The Zero Network
by INeedADifferentName
Summary: Yes, this will be a whole new season, based off the five previous ones. Yes, the other seasons cast will come out. That means, Tai, Davis, Takato, Takuya and Marcus and their respective groups will all come out at the same time. Which is pretty much early on. The plot, I will update once I have the chance. AU, definitely AU!
1. Chapter I: The Beginning

**Don't ask why the Tamers are not present in this story. They got separated when they entered the Digital World along with the new Digidestined. Anyways, this is the very beginning of the story, and this was originally going to be right after the prologue. But... um... well read on to find out why I didn't make it that way. Also, the Three Celestial Digimon managed to find new ones with the help of... well just read on.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or anything else much really. I do own everything original (seriously. I do)!**

**Note: For those who skipped the first three chapters, I tried very hard to recast the new Digidestined into the plot with introductions shortened version (I like to call it) at the very bottom. Originally I wasn't going to add that part either, but I did. Hopefully no other chapters will have these weird parts. They're really confusing me as well. I suppose I really could've just created a character list... meh. I did this already. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

He looked up at the sky, his face solemn in contempt. He knew what was to come. It was all there. The dark clouds brimming over the horizon, the endless rain pouring heavily unto the deep mire. As he stands on the cliff, he closes his eyes, his thoughts tracing back to when he first saw it. That strange feeling, that mysterious vision which he held on to until now. It was all coming to pass, like the nightmare off some horrific storybook— and he was going to be a witness to it all.

The sky opened purple a strange phantasmagoric scene was taking place as it ripped open, revealing a set of thirteen characters, all falling down quickly. It was only when they all came through, that a light shot up from the ground, engulfing them all in it, carefully guiding them downwards unto the earth plain below.

Slowly they descended down, one by one, gently being carried to the endless plain, their bodies' unconscious. A gentle wind breezed by, gliding softly through the grass, swaying it back and forth. A tiny river could be heard as the rustling continued, its waters flowing elegantly downwind, creating a picturesque view of it all.

The sun burned brightly on high, a few clouds parting to create a perfect scene, as the last trickles of late winter's snow blew by their remnants indicating the turn of the seasons. Darkness was all they could see in that moment, their eyes closed and their dreams overtaking them. Despite the perfect image displayed at their arrival, it was only to become worse. A first sense met by the sound of lightning flashing by, indicating the coming of a great storm. Another breeze flew by, this one larger than the last.

He stared on through his mirror, sighing, knowing all to well what was about to ensue. A breath of despair and grief escaped his mouth, his eyes narrowing in sorrow. Here he was, trapped, knowing all of what the future held, yet helpless… unable to do anything. And such was his curse; a pain that only created more woe inside.

The wind beyond his view of the world increased, picking up rapidly as the minutes passed. Here it was, like the epitome of his vision, an introduction of what was to soon come— chaos. He let out a small moan, a trickle gliding down his face. The storm was coming, and there was nothing he could do about it.

* * *

**Digi-break**: I wish this was some film, and the title of the story would appear after the scene above with bolded letters reading: The Zero Network. Actually… when I think about it, the name does sound silly.

Well enough about that, I can officially say, this is where the OFFICIAL story starts off. Originally I was going to start it off here, but I felt I had to really introduce how the characters (from the previous three chapters) came into the Digital World along with the three Tamers.

Nevertheless, I hope many can anticipate the following chapters, and appreciate this story for what it's worth. Forewarning, this story will be extremely dark in theme. That is, some characters will face traumatic events, horrific moments will transpire and there will be murder… no I'm… actually not kidding… Anticipate it.

Also, the moments here and onwards will also tend towards the dramatic, somewhat, flashy events. Meaning, if someone is facing a huge monster or whatever, they will all have these mixed emotions about it. That is, someone will hate someone and so on. Yeah…

* * *

"My liege," a dark voice spoke unto the still darkness. He kneeled down before the sinister throne, his elbows on his knees, much like a knight before his king. The scar over his left eye shimmered with the moonlight coming in from the upper glass ceiling. His breathing was steady, though he rubbed at his palms. "They are here," he alluded to the children who arrived on the east plain.

The throne before him shook, the dark mist surrounding it growing slightly. "So they are," a deep voice spoke from behind the concealing mist.

"What shall' we do, my lord?" the kneeling digimon spoke unto the throne once more. He could sense his nerves tense as a heavy breathing expelled from the throne. He gulped down hard, despite being a master of the dark arts.

"Find the one from that wretched seer's prophecy, and bring him to me," the deep voice ordered.

The servant froze at the request. He looked up, his expression in bewilderment. "My lord?" he spoke with fear. "Are we not to find—,"

"Do I sense resistance in you Astamon?" the deep voice questioned. This caused the digi-man before the throne to turn from bewilderment to fear in expression.

"Of course not," he quickly dissuaded. He stepped back slightly, all the more breathing hard. "My lord," he placated. "I only thought it—,"

"You are not to think," the voice boomed. This sent another chill down his spine. "Find Him, and bring him to me," the voice ordered once more. "Lest you wish to incur my wrath," it threatened.

He shook at the thought. "No, of course not, my lord," Astamon begrudged. He took several more steps back, bowing his robes falling over him. "I will do my best to find him, this… chosen one," he rectified. "If I may?" he asked to be excused.

"So you must," the voice breathed heavily. Another dark mist swirled from the top, landing before Astamon. He froze again, his nerves tensing even more, if possible. He quickly turned, ready to leave, but stopped at the call of his name. "And Astamon," the voice continued. "Do try to seem less afraid next time. It does not do good to have a servant who is… cowardly," it voiced.

He only nodded, though while grinding his teeth, lips closed. He bowed once more, turning again this time half-running as he made his way out of the dark chamber.

Several dark vapors expelled from the throne, heavy breathing audible from a distance. It was when he was out of sight that the voice breathed once more, as if the throne was coming to life. "It will be soon Dark One. Soon before I can offer you Him." A cold laugh could be heard, echoing throughout the chamber. The darkness continued, the moon's light fading away as the dark mist ascended circling the glass ceiling and covering it in endless black.

* * *

**Digi-break: **I have stated this before, but for anyone who skipped the first few chapters, I will reiterate. If any of you see any changes in the original canon characters it is simply because they are growing up. That means that they'll have: physical, emotional, spiritual, mental and psychological changes. They're growing teenagers with a bunch of messed up hormones. They feel envy, greed, lust, wrath, sloth, pride and gluttony. Yes, all of the indulging sins. They'll also have positive virtues, but nonetheless, they're still teens who are growing up. They're going to make mistakes, no matter whom or what tells them beforehand. So there you have it. Now you know. On with the story:

* * *

There was a large cackling sound coming from nearby. He groaned, his arms flinging out of something comfortable. He could feel it. There was a strange coziness resting under him, yet he was too tired to care. Another crackle, this one louder than the last. He yawned, eyes still closed. Soft murmurs could be heard from a distance, his ears perking at the sounds. He moved his shoulder to the left, trying to ignore his surroundings. He didn't want to wake. For some reason his body was aching, yet he couldn't remember what he did last night. _What time is it?_ he thought. He begrudgingly opened his eyes halfway, only parting them wide at the sight before him. "What the?" he screamed, almost yelping, as he quickly backed up against the corner of the bed, his hands held closely to his chest. A look of horror was etched across his face.

"Good morning sleepyhead," a bright and chirpy voice rang from in front of him.

He only stared on, wanting to say something, but finding his breath come short of a noise. He was blinking constantly, trying to wrap his brain to the thing… the creature in front of him.

"You okay?" she asked further, oblivious to his shock.

He only gulped, his feet pressing against the bed sheets. "Um… uh…," he stammered. His eyes remained wide open. It was only a few seconds, but he somehow grabbed his head, wrapped the blanket around himself and was once again starring back at the swan-like creature before him, trying to bang his head. "I… but I…," he continued to stammer.

The swan creature only blinked, placing aside a basket full of eggs. She smiled, finally gathering what was happening. She walked up close to him, offering a… wing? "Don't be afraid," she suggested.

He only blinked, his nerves smoother, though he kept his hands tight around the blanket.

"My name's Swanmon, I am the caretaker of the Town of Arrivals," she added.

He kept his gaze steady, only blinking every so often trying to make sure it wasn't a dream. "So… I'm not dreaming then?" he asked aloud, more for himself.

She smiled again, chuckling a bit. "Of course not. You know, Harpymon did say something about the others acting funny at first. Now that I think about it…," she rested a wing to her beak.

"The others?" he asked suddenly, letting go of the blanket. "What're you talking about?"

She looked up. "Hm? Ah that's right," she mused. "I'm not supposed to say anything yet," she blushed. "Please excuse me. Forget I said anything," she pleaded, shoving a wing forward.

"But, hey…,"

"Now if you'll please excuse me," she hurriedly interrupted, grabbing the basket once more, heading towards the door. "I'll be right back," she stated from the arch of the door, flying quickly before he could let another word out.

He sighed, resting his back against the frame of the bed, slamming his palm against his forehead. "What the hell is going on?" he asked aloud. He pinched himself slightly to make sure he wasn't dreaming only to receive a painful red mark across his arm. Sighing again, he looked around, trying to find something, anything that could explain where the heck he was. The last thing he could remember was leaving calculus class. He exhaled heavily, blowing a bit of air unto his dusty-brown hair, the bang flying over his left eye. He stood up from the bed, walking out, only to find himself wearing a pair of pajamas. "Did someone dress me?" he asked aloud. He blushed at the thought, thinking to himself that someone else saw him naked. Or at least, he quickly checked under the Pjs only to find himself wearing the same undergarment. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least whoever changed him didn't see him all the way.

After his little "moment", he then plotted himself beside a nearby chair. He gazed at the room, looking up and down, until his eyes fell unto a small frame with a couple of…, "It's those same creatures," he remarked. He stood up, walking over to them, placing a hand on one of the many frames. This one had a white looking bird holding a strange green lump with what looked like to be a bib in its mouth.

He then turned his head, only to find the same white swan from earlier beside a bunch of other strange, "What are these?" he asked aloud.

"They're Digimon," a voice spoke from behind him. He jumped slightly, his back against the wall. A few of the frames shook, having been slammed against, by his body.

"Ugh, uh-," he stuttered.

The swan digimon walked up to him, a massive egg in her arm. "Well, we're all digimon," she rectified, this time while pointing at herself and the egg in her wing.

He only blinked. "Digimon?" he asked.

She nodded. "It's okay that you're surprised. Apparently, Harpymon say's that Azulongmon say's that, that's how all the humans act at first when they see a digimon for the first time," she happily explained.

"But wait..," he stated, finally coming to his senses. Even though he was still freaked out by it all, there were other thoughts that were preoccupying his mind. "You said something earlier. About some others. What did you mean by that?"

The swan made a face, holding back in reluctance. "Well," she clicked, looking down. "I'm not supposed to say anything about it. Only that I was to give you this," she raised the egg, "and take you to the main estate."

He blinked again, this time in confusion. "Okay," he expressed. 'First of all, I don't know whether this is all happening, second—,"

"It's real," she clarified.

"Wha?" he blinked.

She smirked. "This," she pointed at their surroundings. "It's all real. It's happening all right," she added.

He scoffed, raising himself up again. "Well, how do I know you're real and not some figment of my imagination?" he asked suspiciously. He held his arms crossed over his chest, giving her that, "You know it" look.

The bird-digimon only snickered, shaking her head with a wing to her head. "Are all humans as this complicated as you?" she asked.

He only smirked. "It depends," he sated, but shook his head afterwards. "But enough of that," he shoved his hand. 'What's this about not being able to tell me where the fu…," he stopped himself short, biting his tongue along the process. He quickly pressed on rewind, hoping that the swan didn't catch on. She must have not or at least acted like she didn't. "Heck am I?" he finished hit thought quickly.

She blushed again. "Well, it's like I said. I am not to tell. On strict orderes," she explained.

He snickered. "By who?" he stated in a rather harsh tone. Tired of squatting to be at her level, he stood erect, crossing his arms once more.

She shook her head. "I can't say that either." She looked up before he could ask why. "But you'll have to trust me on this one," she implored. "Just change so we can be on our way," she ushered.

"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked his expression rigid.

She sighed, turning to look at him. "Well, if you want to meet the other humans, then it's best that you do," she remarked. She saw his expression widen, secretly smiling. She figured he would give in for that. She only smiled back, walking out of the room once more, while holding the egg close to her.

"Wait," he called out.

She turned again. "Yes?" she queried.

"What clothes do I change into?" he asked. He was holding onto his pair of Pajamas, as if to say, _you don't expect me to go in these do you_?

She cradled her beak. "Oh my, I'm sorry," she went back to her motherish vernacular. She then proceeded to point at a small wardrobe placed between the room and another. "You should be able to find your clothes in there," she clarified. "The ones you wore when you came into the Digital World." She could see him about to ask something, and stopped him before he could. "Don't worry, I took the liberty to wash them while you were asleep,' she finished.

He blushed, but only smiled. "I wasn't really going to ask about that," he explained.

"I know," she expressed. "But any questions you have about you being here will have to wait," she clarified once more. "But please, do take your time," she expressed while pointing back to the wardrobe. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." With that, she made her way out of the room, leaving the dusty-brown haired boy to snicker.

He sighed, walking up the wardrobe and opening it. There they were as Swanmon had stated, his only school clothes which consisted of a red blazer, black slacks, and his old pair of tennis from PE. How he wish he had his pack, where his other shoes were. Sighing, he grabbed them from the hangers, reluctantly pulling them out, before closing the door to change. It wasn't long before he finished, folding his former clothes and then placing them back into the wardrobe. He then walked out, making his way into the kitchen.

"Well, I guess I'm ready," he expressed after reaching what he thought to be the kitchen. He guessed right, as he found the Swan sitting on a chair, humming with eyes closed as she rocked the egg she was holding earlier, in her lap. She opened her eyes at his announcement.

"Ah, so I see you are," she mused. She stood up, cradling the egg onto her wings again. "I suppose we can get going now," she offered.

He nodded.

She nodded back, leading him to the front. "I take it your not afraid of me anymore?" she asked, once they were out of the small house.

He looked at her in surprise, blushing slightly while scratching the back of his head in nervousness. "I guess not," he expressed. "It's not that I was earlier," he tried to explain his cowardice. 'It's just that…,"

"It is fine," she clarified. "You're not the first to react this way, nor the last. " She moved the egg to her left side, struggling to carry it while she walked.

He noticed evidently. "Do you want me to carry that?" he asked, while offering a hand.

She looked up, smiling. "If you think you can carry it," she challenged.

He smirked, grabbing the egg from her wings. It wasn't anything of light, but not too heavy either. Almost like carrying a bag of groceries with some milk. He smiled at her. "See?" he asked amusingly.

She only smiled back, happy to have some help, as they made their way down the country-looking road. They were a good ten minutes of walking down the lane already, sometimes awing to admire the large plain of grass and trees, and the sunny blue sky.

"So what's in this thing anyways?" he asked while raising the egg, though based from the pictures he saw earlier, he guessed what it was.

She looked up. "A baby digimon?" she explained.

"Oh," he spoke softly. Tired of carrying it with his hands, he placed it on top of his head for support. He sighed, as they walked further. A grin was etched on his face. If it was one thing he was glad for, it was his extreme patience. Whether he really was hallucinating or dreaming all that was happening at the moment, it didn't matter to him. Once they arrived at wherever the heck they were going, he'd soon have all his answers. He looked down at Swanmon, as she called herself, only smiling while she returned the favor.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask, but, what is your name?' the Swan-digimon asked him several minutes later.

He looked down. "Aaron," he replied. "Aaron Parrish."

"Aaron," she repeated his name. "I'll be sure to remember your name," she avowed. He only continued to smile at her as they walked the rest of the beautiful lane, unaware of the coming storm that was not too far off from where they strolled.

* * *

**Digi-break:** I sure hope I expressed Aaron neatly. He supposed to be the calm, resourceful and patient type. He's also down to earth and has good building skills. Actually when I think about it, I think I'm going to start using these spaces to explain the characters physiologies, personalities, skills and hobbies; that way people can get more of a feel of them. Aaron's hair color is dusty brown (light-brown) and his eyes are Golden (Wolf's eye). I'll describe him better later on.

* * *

"It's that man, the one," a voice uttered from behind him. He could hear them, though they tried to whisper it, not that it was any use. He turned to look back at a pair of strange creatures, though only giving a knowing look. They turned heads quickly, pretending as if they weren't saying anything. He only snickered turning back.

"So when's this crap gonna' start?" he impatiently asked. He was sitting with a group of ten others all in a neat circle around a conference room. There was a blue digimon, a green one and a giant beastly looking one all sitting down beside each other at the front. He sat at the side of the blue one. A group of humans sat across, adjacent and injunction of his position.

"We must wait for the other humans to arrive," the blue digimon responded, turning to look at him. He tapped a hand on the long glass table, resting a hand for support.

"And how long will that take, uh… Seraphimon was it?" a brown haired girl asked from across his side.

The blue angel digimon nodded. "It shouldn't take too long now. I have sent Aquilamon, Birdramon and Swanmon to retreat the other humans," he explained. "It should only be a matter of time before they come."

The humans before the other three digimon only snickered. "And we're supposed to know who they are?" an ice-cold voice spoke from behind them all. They all turned to look at young woman whose hair was almost white in color. She had her hand rested at her side, her eyes narrow and penetrating.

"The humans or…?" a blond asked, turning to look at the three celestial digimon to the front.

"I think she means… the digimon," the brown haired girl responded.

"I can speak for myself," the platinum-haired girl harshly intercepted. This stunned most of the people at the table. Only a few remained unshaken. She turned her icy stare to the pink beast directly across her. "The digimon. Who are they?" she asked.

The pink bunny stared on. "Well… that'll have to… mm." He looked like he wanted to explain, but he wasn't sure how to without going into detail about digimon as a whole. He turned to his companions for support. "Seraphimon, Ophanimon," he called to his companions.

They both shook their heads. "I believe what Cherubimon is trying to say," Ophanimon intervened. She turned to face the icy girl. "Is that you'll have to wait for the others, as we have explained, to come before delegating to you the details. All of you," she quickly rectified while looking at all the humans before her.

The girl with the violet eyes only smiled, her ice-cold stare turning warm. "If you say so…," she expressed, though there was a sound of reluctance in her voice, something only two of the present audience managed to perceive. They remained quiet.

"So uh- do we begin introductions, or—,"

The ruby-haired girl was interrupted when the doors to the conference room opened wide, revealing a set of three characters, all followed by three respective bird digimon. One was tiny and pink with blue swirls at the top of her head, another looked like some tribal bird of some kind and the last one resembled a swan, only much larger. They all quickly made their way in, while the three celestial digimon stood, ready to greet them.

"I trust you found your way here with relative ease?" Ophanimon asked, while welcoming the swan and a boy standing by her side. The swan nodded, while the boy in front o her stared on.

"So you're an angel, I take it?" he asked with a rather unsure tone. She turned to look at him, nodding. "Now I know I'm dreaming," he remarked. He turned his attention past Ophanimon once having shaken her hand, and slowly made his way to the group before him, smirking. "So there are others here… and," his eyes widened. He quickly ran over to a group of boys sitting side by side at the front end of the table. "Oh, dang, you guys are here too?" he asked with a bemusing tone.

A few others watched as the dusty-haired young man greeted himself to, what they guess were people he knew. Of course, they were in the same boat as he, all knowing someone or having seen someone else from before.

"Okay," Seraphimon boomed with a louder voice. They all turned to look at him, as he made his way back to the table, this time sitting at the center, his equals taking the ones beside him. He clasped his hands together, forming a tiny ball, before extending it high into the air. The air shimmered with the light, glowing magnificently, before finally spinning, until it disappeared. They all looked down, after some were awed by it, confusion in their expressions. He noted it, ready to explain. "I have cast a shielding spell for us to be able to keep secret of what will be said here," he explained. They all nodded in unison, each unsure what that meant, but none willing to ask. He only smiled. "I'll explain later, but for now," he looked around at the people before him, "let us begin introductions."

They all turned to look at each other, before back at the front. "Who goes first?" someone spoke from the far end of the table.

The blue angel nodded. "I suppose we can start with me, and continue on clockwise," he offered. The others nodded, some in reluctance, but nonetheless, in the end it didn't really matter.

"As you may all know, I am Seraphimon," he looked at the three who were absent not too long ago. "I am also a Guardian of the Digital World," he proclaimed. He looked around, thinking of something to say, but decided to leave it at that. He took a seat right afterwards.

The pink bunny stood immediately afterwards, his presence creating a sort of calm in the atmosphere. He cleared his throat, his massive hand resting at his side afterwards. "Well, my name is Cherubimon and like Seraphimon, I am one of three Guardians of the Digital World," he proclaimed. He looked around, smiling softly, before sitting.

Seraphimon knocked on the table, an amber-eyed young man staring back at him. He nodded, understanding what was expected of him, yet strangely, he didn't bother to find out what would happen if he didn't obey in the first place. He stood tall, all eyes on him. He could feel them, yet he flared a charming smile. He raised a chin at them, nodding slightly upwards, tucking a hand in his pocket. "Name's Jason Aster," he proclaimed. "I'm 6'1", I weigh 215 pounds. All muscle," he remarked quickly. A few laughed. "And my birthday's August 12th." He stopped to look around, trying to find anything else to say. He then turned to the blue angel for support.

"Try telling us a little about what you think?" Seraphimon offered.

He nodded, turning back to look at everyone else. "Well," he rubbed at the back of his head. "For starters, I'm still trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing here and whether I am dreaming all this crap up," he spoke rudely, garnering a few chuckles, laughs and snickers. "And," he quickly added, "I guess I'm about to find out," he nodded, before sitting.

The celestial digimon only nodded at him back, though they ignored his recent comment. Seraphimon turned to the person adjacent from Jason. He nodded for him to stand.

The young man with the blue eyes and golden hair stood, his attention fixed. He wasn't as aloof as his friend, but still he wasn't rigid either. He shot a warm smile, straightening his blazer, before beginning. "Hello everyone," he spoke warmly. "My name is Trevor Royal. I stand an inch shorter than my friend here," he patted at Jason's shoulder, "and I weigh roughly 205 pounds or so. My birthday's December 7th and I like to study and…," he paused, trying to figure where he was going with it all. He shrugged, unable to find anything. "Well, I guess that's it," he chuckled. He quickly sat down, Jason elbowing him at the rib. He only shot back a glare.

"Well, ehm," Seraphimon cleared his throat to garb their attention. "I suppose name's and such will do for now," he reprimanded. "You can all just stand after the other has taken his or her seat," he rectified. They all nodded in confirmation.

The boy beside Trevor was next to stand. The same one with the dusty brown-hair and golden eyes. "Hello, everyone," he spoke humbly. "My name's Aaron Parrish and I stand at 6'3". I weigh 225 pounds, so I suppose I'm a bit on the bulky side," a few people laughed at that. He waited for them to quiet down before continuing. "My birthday's January 1st—"

"You were born on New Year's?" someone asked from across.

He turned to look at her, nodding. "Screwed up my mom's plans," he jokingly added. This garnered a few more laughs, him smiling before sitting. The one next to him stood immediately.

All eyes were on him, particularly two friends who sat across from him. He smiled at them, before turning to look at the others. His jet black hair glimmered in the light, and his dark green eyes only added to his depth. "Hey, everyone," he spoke in a husky voice. "My name's Liam Hunter, and since everyone else is bothering to say this, I guess I will too. I stand at 6'2" and weigh 210 pounds, give or a take a few," he coolly remarked. He looked around, a few others staring back at him intently. "My birthday," he regained his focus, "is somewhere between November 8th through 10th. I don't know," he shrugged. "I was adopted, and a few things got mixed up here and there," he coolly remarked again. A few were ready to ask more about his adoption, and sensing it from years of countless questioning about it, he quickly sat down. He could hear a few sneers, but ignored them, and instead nodding to the person sitting next to him to begin his greeting. He looked on though, as the young man looked at him, his eyes glowing a silver gray. He was stunned slightly, but quickly regained his composure, watching as he stood up.

"Hello," he spoke in a surreal tone, almost between soft yet sharp, or loud yet quiet. "The name's Lucas Glass, although my birth certificate adds an E-U-R to the end of that," he remarked. He smiled, before continuing, though he could sense all eyes on him, none blinking. He was use to it. His appearance didn't help. "I stand at 6'2", and I don't know my weight," he admitted. He looked down at the glass table, shaking his head, before looking up. "My birthday is on September 8th." He nodded again, straightening his blazer, pulling at the end of the collar, and then sitting down, his back erect and proper.

The girl beside him, who matched him in color and almost skin tone, stood up next. All eyes, like the boy previously, fell on her. Like him, she was use to it. She only smiled, though her cold stare remained. "My name is Amora Lacellares," she began with an icy tone, un-bothering to begin with a formal introduction. "I don't know my weight, but I do stand at 5'11",' she stated. She heard a few "whistles and blows" especially from the boys side. She smirked at them, only dropping her gaze to the young man sitting beside her. He was the only one whose expression remained what she noticed as "unfazed". Not something she was use to seeing, it surprised her, though she didn't let on. Instead she sat sitting as well, erect and neat.

The girl beside her stood quickly almost jolting up. This caused a few to stare at her slightly amazed at her sudden reaction. She blushed slightly, padding down her school skirt, before beginning. "Um…," she fiddled with her fingers, "I don't know why I'm so nervous about this," she began. "Normally I'm not like this, but…," she stopped to take a quick breath. "Okay, so my name is Victoria Vauxhall, and my height is 5'9". I weigh 140 pounds, though a lot of it has to do with me being big-boned," she quickly added. "Other those things, my birthday falls on June 11th," she quickly finished. Her whole speech seemed hurried, but none of them bothered to correct it. They all or most of them at least, wanted to get whatever they were doing over with.

The ruby-haired girl stood next, after the blond had taken her seat. Her emerald eyes managed to catch a few of the male's attention. She only smiled, her bright teeth showing. "Well, hello everyone," she greeted happily. Her voice was soft, yet firm. "My name," she rolled her eyes, "is Arisa Devereaux. I know, weird last name, but it's my parents," she remarked. A few people laughed again. She was glad for that. She hated doing speeches. "Um… well my height is at 5'8", and I weigh somewhere between 130 to 135 pounds. As for my birthday, it's on May the 3rd," she proclaimed. She looked around, grinning. "So I guess that's it," she remarked before taking a seat.

Had the next girl been last, everyone would have been awed, not by her beauty like Lucas or Amora, but by her surreal look. She elegantly stood her eyes dreamy, almost unfocused. Everyone, especially a certain auburn-haired young man who sat by the blue angel, all looked on intently. They all waited for her to speak, the room growing quiet. She blinked several times, smiling softly, before speaking. "My name," she looked up. Some listened in, careful not to miss a word as her soft voice sounded through the room. "Is Serena Leon." Her tone was much like music, as some thought. "I stand at 5'9", and my weight is…," she paused, biting her lower lip. "13-something.," she spoke, pronouncing a hundred. "My birthday," she spoke systematically, "is March 06th." She looked around, nodding slightly, before taking a seat.

The others, most whose focuses were on her, snapped from their gaze, looking at Seraphimon who stood up. "Lastly is—," he began while pointing at a brown haired girl.

She stood up, bowing. "October," she stated with force. "October Farrel. She stared on to the others. "And if you're wondering why that is, and if you haven't guessed it already," she continued with sarcasm. 'It's because my birthday falls on October. 22nd to be exact. I don't know, my parents decided to get all hippie on me or something," she remarked. She quickly spoke again, before anyone could start laughing. "My height is 5'8", and my weight is no one's damn business, any questions?" she quickly finished. Some snickered, but other than that, everyone nodded, relived to have gotten the introductions over with.

After everyone had sat down once more, and the noise quieted down, did the green angel stand, her presence bringing in everyone's attention. She clapped her hands together. "That was very good," she appraised like n elementary school teacher. "But, all introductions aside," she digressed, "I will it up, and than we can continue on from there with the questioning." She looked at them all, smiling. "My name is Ophanimon, and I am the last of the three Celestial Digimon," she elegantly affirmed to her equals. "I know many of you may be wandering what you're doing here and whether it means something," she expressed. Some chuckled, but other than that, they all remained silent, waiting for her to explain. "But, before I may begin, I want you all to meet a few others." She clapped her hands together calling whoever it was over. At first there seemed to be no response, but soon, they all turned their heads eyeing the grand doors as they opened wide, revealing a set of many characters, each standing with an odd looking creature by their side.

"I want you all to meet,' she held a hand out to them, "the Digidestined." She smiled on. The ten who sat at the conference table all sat, some bewildered, others in contempt. Here they sat thinking they were the only humans, and now they sensed something bigger was about to happen, and they were in for one hell of a ride.

* * *

**Like I said above, this last part (all the paragraphs with the characters introducing themselves) was never going to be added. Even after writing it, I kept thinking whether I should scrape it. Oh well, it's there fro anyone who wishes to use it. It's simply meant to help anyone know who is who. I'll probably do a character lost later on to make things easier. Please review, because from here on out, things are going to take the fast track. I really am planning for this to not be too long. Also, don't try to mind to much on the weight. I'm not very good with figuring out weights for heights and genders so I looked it all up. A lot of sites varied, so don't blame me. It doesn't matter really though, most like they'll all be fit and tone soon. I mean... they will all be doing a lot of walking, running, fighting and so on. That's an exercise routine way overboard there by itself. So yeah... there you have it.**


	2. Chapter II: Matrix Reasoning

**This is the second chapter to this story. I focused more on the plot-line, and what's about to unravel. Like I said, I'm going to the thick of this story real fast, so I need the Digi-destined to all go to where I want them rather soon. Which is what this chapter is for. It's the starting point for what will happen and what's going to happen. read the chapter to find out what that means, if you want.**

**Disclaimer: Yes, I own anything in Digimon... that's original. Unfortunately and fortunately, that is fortunate or unfortunate depending upon whose fortune. Yep...**

* * *

The doors opened wide, as the ten teenagers watched, each of their expressions different based upon their personality. Some were rigid, others perplexed by what was going on. It didn't matter as they all looked on, Ophanimon the only one walking over to the group, her hands extended.

"Welcome all," she greeted them, once the doors had fully opened. She smiled at them, her golden wings shining with the bright light extending down from the ceiling. "It is good to see you again," she added.

The others watched as a young man with brown scraggily hair walked forward, a yellow looking dinosaur walking beside him. They watched as he shook her arm, bowing slightly before calling over the others behind him. They too shook her hands, Seraphimon and Cherubimon standing to greet them soon afterwards.

It wasn't until all formalities were underway, when Ophanimon turned to the children sitting by the conference table. She motioned for them to stand and meet the other humans. They all followed suite, Jason at the lead while Amora took the rear. One-by-one they stood before their peers, each looking at the other intently. The boy with the scraggy hair was the first to speak. "So these are the ones?" he asked the green angel beside him.

She nodded. "Takuya and the others found them using the _Cipher Textile_."

The brown-haired young man looked surprised. "They're still in the fifth plane?" he asked. She nodded again.

"They'll be here soon. But as for now," she moved aside for the others to see the new members. "I'd like you all to meet the new Digidestined." She extended an arm, allowing everyone to focus their attention on the newcomers. They on the other hand stood, some playing with their fingers, not knowing how to react.

The auburn-haired young man was the first to walk up. He offered a hand, shooting a fixed smile, his brows inattentive. "The name's Jason Aster," he offered.

The older of the two only smiled his brows rigid. He seemed to be analyzing the other young man. It didn't take too long, before he finally made up his mind, taking in the other's hand for a shake. "Taichi Kamiya," he greeted. They parted hands afterwards, Ophanimon standing between them.

"Okay then," she intercepted. "Now the others," she motioned for them to come on over. They too walked up; one by one extending hand shakes. It wasn't until the last of them had presented themselves when Seraphimon spoke up. He flew high in midair to grab everyone's attention, the light of the ceiling reflecting on him creating a flare in their eyes. They all looked up.

"It is time," he spoke unequivocally. "It is time that we begin to explain what is happening." They all stared on as he descended down, hovering over to the grand chair before the conference table, sitting, motioning for them to do the same.

They all understood as they all, one-by-one, sat through the long table once more, and this time by seniority. Those more experienced sat closer to them, while the newer ones sat further down.

"Now," Seraphimon began who everyone had taken a seat. He glanced over to both Ophanimon and Cherubimon who sat at his right and left respectively. They nodded to him, each giving him their permission to continue. He looked forward once more, his expression strong and commanding. "Children," he paused. "No, not children," he looked to the older group. "Young heroes," he proclaimed, "and," he then shifted his gaze to those farther down the table. "Our new hosts," he added. "It is time Cherubimon, Ophanimon and I begin to explain what is truly happening in our world." He looked at the senior group, his eyes perplexed. "It is time we tell you the entire truth, and the sole reason," he turned his attention again. "Why you are all here," he spoke to the newcomers.

Everyone sat erect, some feeling their nerves tense, sensing what was about to come was going to be shocking if not, shattering. Seraphimon cleared his throat before continuing. "Before I begin to explain the world's history, I want you all to know," he looked towards the ten sitting the farthest down, "whatever questions you may have, please hold them. For they will all be answered eventually, though here and now," he forewarned.

They all nodded, letting him know they understood. He nodded back, ready to continue.

"As you may all know, this world is not like yours," he mostly referred to the newer group. "It is different in that it was created from the advances of you humans," he explained. "But as time will tell you all, the data created from the humans long ago began to take form, shaping itself until it began to create life. Digital life to be more exact. It is unknown how this phenomenon began," he assured, "but nonetheless, many of us," he paused, rethinking it. "Those like Ophanimon, Cherubimon and I, have begun to study this lore, researching further into it, trying to find some aspects as to how it all began." He looked to Cherubimon, indicating for him to take the lead from the there.

The pink-bunny understood, standing, opening his massive arms, only to reveal a tiny orb inside. He placed it gently at the center top of the glass table for all to see. He then sat down next to Seraphimon once more but not before touching the orb. This caused it to spin to life. It shot up high in the air, and everyone watched as it spun, tiny bits of data floating atop of it, before settling. These pieces began to from images.

"What you see before you," Seraphimon continued once the orb settled back down, "is the world we are in now".

Many awed, including the senior group, all amazed at what they were seeing.

"Now, our research… our investigation," he rephrased, "has led us down a deep and more mystifying past. One that neither digimon nor' man could have ever imagined," he rendered. "For you see," he shot a beam of light at the orb, causing it to change the image. A set of ten elements were displayed at the center. "This is what created our world," he proclaimed.

This caused them all to look at him, the senior group's faces shocked. They all looked like they wanted to ask the obvious questions that were in all their minds, but Ophanimon spoke before they could.

"Seraphimon will explain everything," she clarified. They turned to her, nodding slightly. She then turned to face her equal, nodding for him to continue.

"The ten elements displayed here, though at first glance may seem like nothing more but what they are, are in fact much more," he spoke in riddle. "Let me explain," he chuckled at the expressions of the humans who were in confusion. "When Cherubimon, Ophanimon and I were given the ten elements to guard, we had no idea the power they possessed. It wasn't until we had given this same power to a group of other children, once they had left leaving what we deem as 'Spirits" behind, that we noticed a strange anomaly." He shot another beam of light. The image changed once more, this time creating pictures of the ten legendary warriors. "These are the ten legendary warriors," he proclaimed. "And as you may all know, and for those who do not, they are all living creatures."

"These 'Spirits,' were the first proof of life before our own," he explained. A few close to him shot raised eyebrows. "You see," he assured, "the spirits are in fact direct descendents of the ten elements themselves. The sole inheritors of their power. Now, why I tell you all this?" he asked.

He then turned to Ophanimon to continue. She nodded her mouth opening, but no sound coming out. All eyes were on her now. "It is because these same elements are what created us," she proclaimed. Another few gasps, but she remained unfazed. "Well that is, the elements here created us Digimon." She looked at the humans partners, passing her eyes along each and every one of them. "Which brings me back to what Seraphimon stated earlier," she continued, her head raised again. "As we investigated further into the creation of our world, we discovered that the ten elements each possess magnificent attributes. Qualities that allows us digimon to express ourselves as individuals," she paused, waiting for the information to sink into her audience's mind, before continuing. "In other words, the elements not only gave us life, but they are what allow us to operate, live and… act in our own free will," she explained.

"So you're saying that the ten elements are—,"

"The root core or data of our entire life's spectrum," Ophanimon finished for Matt. "Much like any program or sheet of data, it must have a source to operate. Ours seems to be the elements themselves. Only," she paused again. "It is unclear how the elements, which are really only DATA particles themselves, had come to create digital life. Much less give that same life the ability to act on its own accord," she explained further. "However," she shook her head. "It is crucial for you all to understand this information, for the next part can prove to be a devastating," she warned.

She stared down at the newcomers, her eyes fixed. "As we have mentioned, the elements have the ability to create digital life, imbue that same life with different properties, as evidenced by the "Spirits" and "Digimon", and then turn to give that life independence. In as such, we," she referred to her equals, "have come to the conclusion that those same elements are actual manifestations of your world," she alluded to the humans.

They all looked at her, their expression in endless perplex. She bowed slightly, moving her shoulder forward. "This explains the theory of why the Digital World is able to absorb real life humans and transfer them unto the digital matrix and vice-versa," she explained. "Through the power of the elements, which combines the reality of both worlds acting as a gateway, we have learned this pivotal truth. Whatever happens to the elements in this world will most certainly have a major affect in the human world as well," she spoke unequivocally, a serious tone in her voice.

"What do you mean?" Tai asked. They all looked at him. He blushed slightly, having not noticed he had stood until he looked down. He stared on nonetheless, not bothering to sit back down.

"She means that both worlds are connected by some other dimension, one perhaps created from the elements themselves, or another force. That much is still unclear to us," Seraphimon intercepted.

"And what does this have to do with us?" a voice spoke from the back. They all turned their heads, all eyes on him. It was Jason. He was also standing now. "Why are we here," he alluded to the people around him. "What purpose… what reason is it that we're here," he asked with a stern tone.

Seraphimon, who was now sighing, kept his gaze on the orb. He shot a beam of light at it, causing it to shut down, the images fading away. He then stood, his arms behind him, sighing one again, this time more heavily. He turned his head forward, and if he had visible eyes they'd all be able to see the sadness there. "Because," he spoke, barely audible for those in the very back. "Our world is coming to an end," he shuddered, "and we fear, that it may mean the end for yours as well."

This caused the entire room to gasp, only a few remaining seated now. The ones standing had faces filled with bewilderment, confusion, fear and anxiety.

"Which is why we need your help," he spoke before anyone could panic. "We need you to not only save our world, but in the process, save yours as well."

With that, all eyes shifted onto each other. The leader of the group at the fore walked forward. He had his heads in a fumble, but still he remained strong. "But what can we do/" he asked.

Ophanimon stood between the blue digi-angel and Tai. "There isn't much you can do," she regretfully admitted. She then looked past him to the newcomers who seemed to be conversing with each other and the other two angel digimon about the situation. He noticed it, looking back himself. His group did the same. "But they," she uttered, "They may be able to help us."

"Well what can they do that we can't?" Sora asked from behind Matt. She had her hand in his.

The green angel looked at her. "It isn't what you can't do," she clarified. "It's what they can," she looked back to the newer group. "They alone have the power to tap into the energy reserves of the main frame."

The senior group turned to her, their faces in confusion. "What do you mean?" Izzy asked. He was fumbling through some papers. He had been writing the entire conversation, since he had forgotten to bring his trust laptop.

"I mean that the dimension those humans come from, it is where the heaviest concentration of power from the elements resides. That is, their world could possibly hold the oldest forms of data available, and as such, it may be where the elements were created," she explained. "It is the only anomaly missing within the matrix." She turned to look at them her eyes fixed. 'That is why I need you, the Tamers, The Warriors, The Savers and the younger Digidestined to help them. Help them find the true power of the elements within themselves, and help them locate the final piece of our world," she explained.

"You mean you want us to travel with them back into their dimension?" Mimi asked. She sat in front of Izzy.

The green angel nodded. "Not only travel there, but find the final piece that attempts to merge with his world. Find it, and try to figure out why our world is collapsing. I need you all to be their for them," she referred to their partners.

"And how will we get there?" both Kari and Takeru asked. They were sitting side-by-side, their elbows on top, faces clear with anxiety.

She nodded her head. "The same as Takuya and the others," she proclaimed. She extended a hand, opening it to reveal tiny bits of data resembling a card, only the data was at surface level. "Use this to travel to the fifth dimension and from there find the portal that will take you all into the last piece of the Digital World."

Tai, who was looking down at it, took it for her hand. "And what do we do once we get there," he asked, once placing the card inside his jeans.

"That is where I cannot help you. You'll have to find it out for yourselves. There is not much neither Seraphimon, Cherubimon, or I, nor the Sovereign and…,' she paused. "We do not know what you all may face there. Which is why we're sending you all. This is important, not just for us, but as well," she turned to look at the newer group, who were not coming to them. "For us all,' she finished.

The older group nodded, all of them understanding what was expected of them. They all faced the newer humans, smiling as they made their way to the front. This was possibly day they would have with peace and happiness, and they were not about to let that go to waste.

* * *

**Yes... extremely small chapter. Not even a Digi-break to be found anywhere. Like I said, these is like the launching pad for what is coming next. Hope I explained the way the Elements worked in this chapter. I'll go more into depth later about them as I give the new Digidestined their own form of fighting. Anyway, be sure to review. I really appreciate those, and would like it if you could take some time after reading this story.**


	3. Chapter III: Illusive Reality

**I wonder to myself when doing these, do I have I always have to write something here? Not that I don't want to, I just can't think of anything else to say here that's hasn't been said already. I do want to write something though... but what? Meh... I'll think of something later.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Digimon *gasps*... I know... I don't. But I'll tell you what I do own. All the original content! Well... enough of that awkwardness, here's the next chapter.**

* * *

After having discussed the matter a little further, and promising to reveal all the details the following day, the three celestial digimon had then offered the children living quarters within the kingdom. The meeting had adjourned by noon, and the Digidestined were given separate chambers according to seniority and gender. The older Digidestined which consisted of Tai, Matt, Izzy, Joe and Takeru, along with their digimon, occupied the upper floor's chamber room. The girls, who consisted of Sora, Mimi and Kari, held the room opposite of that one.

The newer Digidestined, who as well were separated by gender, took the chamber room's one floor down. Jason, Trevor, Liam, Aaron and Lucas occupied the men's residence, while October, Serena, Victoria, Arisa and Amora occupied the room opposite of that one.

The four chamber rooms annexed to the main foyer or common room, the door arch leading to their respective dorms. Two bathrooms were found left and right within the common's room, one for the boys and the other for the girls. A grand staircase separates the lower chamber room, while the parting upper floor separates the adjacent rooms above.

It is here, in the common's room, where many of the chosen, those of the old group and the new, are discussing the matters; using their free time to talk things into perspective.

"So, what do you think is going to happen once we get to your world?" Sora asked. She was sitting on an upholstery-chair, one leg crossed on top of the other.

The girl sitting opposite of her, a few feet between them, only shrugged. "I suppose first finding whatever it is we'll be looking for seems like the best idea," she speculated. She twisted a curl of her hair, fiddling with it in a bored motion. "But, um… Sora, I have to ask this?" she switched the conversation. She pushed herself a little closer to the edge of the chair, and then looked down at the pink bird sitting by the other girl's side. It was sleeping. "Will we be getting one of those?" she asked frankly.

Sora, who moved her head to look where the girl was pointing, immediately understood. She smiled. "I'm not one-hundred percent on this,' she admitted, "but I do remember Seraphimon and the others mentioning something about you guys receiving your own "form" of power. Whatever the means," she remarked.

The other girl only sighed, slouching back on the recliner. "Well that sucks," she remarked, clearly disgruntled at not having received the answer she had been hoping for. She turned her head, looking at the others who were also chatting. She noticed the senior group doing most of it, allowing her to figure out where most of their conversations were steered towards— the digital world.

"So um… October," Sora called her name.

She blinked, tearing her gaze away from the others and back to her. "Yeah?" she asked.

"How are you getting on with all of this?" she asked. She made a point to explain it better. "I mean, with all this Digital World stuff. It must be surprising, if not, at least exhausting," she stated.

She only shrugged, unable to figure out how she felt about the situation exactly. "Like whatever really." This caused the red-haired girl to look at her in confusion. She noticed it quickly, propping herself up again. "I mean don't get me wrong. It's still all weird to me and all," she paused, looking elsewhere. "But… I don't know. I guess I'm just trying to make sense of all this without freaking out or something," she replied. She looked towards the others again. She noticed them, the ones from her school, all calm like her about the situation. Or so they seemed. "Maybe we all are," she remarked.

Sora looked on, her face in concern. The newcomers really were calm about the situation, especially given the fact that they were given a task much harder than her group had in the beginning. Something she found amazing about them, as well, noting to ask more about it later. Her thoughts ceased when a muffled sound resonated in her ears. She then snapped out of her gaze, when she noticed the girl moving her mouth, sound coming out. "What?" she asked, eyes blinking.

"I said, how was it for you guys your first time?" October repeated. She was now facing forward again.

"Oh, well um…," Sora paused to think. "I don't really remember it clearly, but I do recall some of the," she paused again to think of a better word to use. "More 'sensitive' members of our group freaking out and running all over the place." She placed a hand on top of her partner, her eyes soft like a mother looking over her sleeping child. "But in the end, we've learned to rely on each other," she stated, in reference to the digimon. 'And now," she moved her hand away, "I can't imagine living without them." Her eyes traveled to all her friends within the room. "And I can tell you right now, I'm almost certain that they feel the same," she alluded to her friends.

October smiled. "It must be nice though."

Sora looked up. "What?" she asked. Her hand went back to the top of her digimon. The pink bird woke up slightly, falling back to sleep at Sora's "it's okay" gesture.

"That," October pointed at her partner. "To have someone there for you. If what you say is true, then it must be nice to have someone to rely on, to talk to," her face softened. "Almost like a talking pet," she remarked. Her eyes widened at what she said, her expression big. "Not that I mean that your digimon are like animals or anything,' she tried to restate.

The red-head only laughed. "It's okay, really. I understand what you mean. And there's nothing wrong about having animals either," she remarked. "But, back to what you were saying, about having someone to talk to, what did you mean by that exactly?" she pried.

Her expression contorted. Her cheeks began to fluster. "Oh, well, uh…," she trailed, trying to think of something to say. "It's not that big of a deal,' she began to say. "It's just…," she stopped. Her face became rigid, only adding to her reluctance. She didn't want to talk about her past. Not now. Luckily for her, someone had come over to interrupt their conversation.

"So whatcha' you girls doing?" a certain blond asked, sweeping over to his girlfriends side. He wrapped his arms quickly around the red-head, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Nothing," Sora blushed, patting his forearm. "Just some girl talk." She looked up. "Not that it's any of your business," she remarked.

He chuckled, coming over to her side. "Liked I'd want to know," he coolly shot back. He gave her a smirk, followed by another attempt at pecking her cheek.

October, who by now had grown uncomfortable, began to stand.

"Oh, you're leaving?" Sora asked, pushing Matt aside, to get a clearer view of the brunette.

She only nodded back. "I don't really want to interrupt…," she paused, looking at them with contempt. "Your time or whatever," she gestured.

Sora only smiled. "You can stay," she offered. "Matt was just going to go get us some refreshments, weren't you Matt?" she pushed him back to look him in the eyes.

"I was?" he asked, clearly confused. He gazed at her expression, only figuring out what she meant by it several seconds later. "Oh, right," he snapped two fingers, standing back up. "Um…," he scratched at the back of his head, looking at the other girl nervously. "I'll be right back with those drinks," he stated, leaving rather quickly.

October, who tried to get him not to, looked at the other girl after failing. She remained fixed on her decision. "I really do have to go," she attempted to leave again.

Sora, who now looked confused, tried to dissuade her. "You don't have to. And besides, Matt's going to be back with those drinks any minute now," she assured. "You should really stay. We haven't finished our conversation and—,"

"I have to use the bathroom," October lied. She started to press her to legs together, pretending like she was holding it in. "Been needing to for a while," she continued.

"Oh," Sora blinked. "Well, I'm sorry," she conceded.

She smiled back. "Don't be. It's not like you knew or anything." She turned her attention to the bathroom in attempt to hasten the conversation. She wanted to leave before her boyfriend, Matt she called him, returned.

"Well if you have to go, don't let me stop you," Sora joked, having noticed the conversation turn awkward.

The brunette smiled again, mouthing a quick "thanks" before speeding off towards the girl's lavatory, leaving behind Sora to rethink the conversation.

She sighed, a hand to her cheek. "It's okay October," she began aloud, while watching the girl run towards the bathroom. "We all get lonely at times," she remarked, knowing the feeling all to well. "You'll be okay though," she smiled, confident about her statement. Her cheeks flustered when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Who will be okay?" Matt asked from behind. He had returned from grabbing the refreshments. He walked up to where she sat, placing a cup filled with a clear substance at the table in front of her. "And where's that other girl, uh-," he stopped, fishing for a name.

"October,' she finished for him. She picked up the cup, thanking him, before placing it in her mouth. She took a sip, before answering his previous question. "As for where she went," she looked over to the girl's private room.

He followed suite, mouthing an "O".

She purposely failed to answer his second question, hoping he wouldn't remember it either. He must have not, because he patted for her to stand, sitting down where she sat previously, before placing herself on his lap. She guessed it to be more of a spur of the moment type of question. She only smiled at him, as he kissed her cheek again, though her thoughts trailed back to the brunette. She couldn't help but feel a weird connection to her. Almost as if they both shared a common bond. A thought that circled her mind while Matt cradled her, though her gaze remained fixed at the bathroom. An eerie feeling indeed.

* * *

**Digi-break**: My first profile will be October. –Spoiler Alert– October, if you haven't guessed it already, will be the Wind Guardian. Kind of like how there's the Savers, Warriors, Tamers, etc. They all have unique names for each Digidestined group. This group's name will be Guardians (I know… cheesy). Although, I won't reveal anything further on what that means for them, etc. until later on. Okay, so back to October. Well, she's more of the talkative, interactive and intelligent type. She's diplomatic, communicative, studious and verbally expressive. She seeks intimacy, but is afraid to show it, and doesn't really like to fight. Although, she's headstrong when it comes to her convictions, and can be extremely moody at odd times. By nature she's sweet and wishes for everything to be at peace.

Her hair's light-brunette (caramel), but she has hazel eyes. She's the type that if she wore glasses she'd look nerdy, but without them she'd suddenly turn 180 degrees. She likes to study a lot, but she is also extremely sociable. Though she tries to finds balance in all she does, and always wants to compromise. More on her when I create the damn character list… whenever I actually get around to starting it. Ha *laughs*

* * *

_The sound of a bell chimed through the sky, the winds sweeping at its every ring. It made a vibrating noise as it droned with the bell, creating a harmonic tune, which echoed through the vacuum. In the center of the vacant space, stood but one building, it's towering height encompassing all within the sun's reflection. The peak of it was the most peculiar part, as a large clock was engraved deep within. Large creeping ivy hung from the sides suggesting the tower's old age._

_At the grounds of the place rested the ruins of something that was once there. Scattered debris and shattered buildings decorated the hollow streets, the trees and foliage thrown around, some in odds twists and shapes. _

_Another sound of the bell, this one louder than the last echoed again. The bell wrung once more, the air current picking up in speed. The hands of the clock moved, though where they turned was blurred by a foggy vision._

_He stared on, through an omniscient perspective, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. His view wasn't in his control, as he noticed, the angle's changing at their own whim. The clock's hands moved, though he could not hear them, but he was sure they were. He felt it. _

_As he watched from the sky, he gazed downwards, noticing two strange figures robed in darkness standing by the foot of the tower. Amazingly, despite unable to see their appearance through the shadows, his eyesight was past normal. He noted as the figures began to move, his perspective chasing them. It stopped when they did, by the door of the tower, where they now looked up. They pulled on the grand door, only to end in failure. He could see something move at the head of one of the shadows, what he guessed to be a face. Sound was coming out of the one moving, though it was all muffled. _

_He tried to shorten his distance but to no avail, as the view kept him locked in his position. The twin figures moved once more. They seemed desperate enough to want to enter, as they began to climb the building, heading for the nearest window available. It proved futile, as the first figure to climb fell only six feet underway. He tried hearing what they were saying, but again failed. _

_He followed the figures once more as they quickly turned, running away from the tower in frenzy. He wondered what had suddenly startled them. Looking back towards the tower, he paused, looking around for what had caused them to run away so fast only moments of wanting to enter. He looked up, and that's when he saw it – a black figure much like a great raven staring back at the ground. He froze, his nerves tensing. The great dark mass, which was at the foot of the clock, gazed down where he was. Wondering what it was looking at so intently, he turned as well, looking back at the ground. There was nothing there. The two hooded figures were gone as well._

_Turning back in confusion, he looked back up, only to find the black raven staring down, its focus undeterred. He froze again, realizing what it was staring at. It wasn't looking at the ground, nor' anything else for that matter. It was staring at him. He felt his nerves tense again, the muffling sound coming out from the great raven. It spread its great black wings, almost covering the entire land in darkness as it blocked the sun. He watched as it flung high in the air, several plumes falling down gracefully. _

_The clock wrung again. He looked up, barely able to read the time. It read: six-six. The hands at the precise moment began to twist and jerk as they frantically spun round-and-round. The great raven flew high in the air, as a beam of light shot out of the tip of the tower, hitting it square in the chest. Thinking it would fall, he kept his gaze focus, but only to find the bird shatter into a thousand feathers. They landed softly near him. His perspective shifted once more, and now he was at ground level. _

_Looking around, he managed to spot a feather by his feet. He picked it up, examining it from all sides. It was a giant feather indeed. A silver light reflected off the edge of the feather, creating a dark rainbow effect. The sounds of footsteps echoed again, causing him to turn. The two strangers who had run away previously were back, this time carrying two swords._

_He watched as they ran past him, heading straight towards the looming tower. The winds rustled once more, the hands of the clock remained where they were. Time had frozen, and as he looked down, he noticed so had the two strangers. Walking up to them, and upon further inspection, he noticed the objects in their hands. They weren't swords after all. Wanting to find out for himself, he clutched at one of their hands, opening the palm carrying the item. Several seconds later, and he found himself squat, peering at his own hand, analyzing the object he had snatched. He eyes widened at what he saw._

_He made an effort to sound what he was holding, but only silence accompanied his fright. Quickly getting up, and looking back at the strangers, he jumped back. They were gone, and in front of him was no longer the tower, but rather an endless void of darkness. He blinked, trying to ascertain where he was. The sound of the bell wrung, causing him to turn, only to find even more endless darkness around him._

_A voice hissed through it, causing a jitter to go up his spine. It hissed once more, he turning in all directions trying to locate where it was coming from. _

"_Chosen One," it whispered through the darkness. Surprised that he could hear a voice, he began to panic. His perspective followed as he took over, running though the endless void. _

"_Chosen One,' the voice called once more. He turned again, his lungs panting after having to pause for some air. He was tired… in what he assumed to be a dream. Only, it felt too real. It had to be, he was now in control of where he went. _

"_Chosen One," the voice whispered by his ear. He quickly turned, striking where it had come from only to hit nothing but the air around him. He felt his nerves tighten, his grip around the object compressing. That's when his expression widened. The object. He opened his palm, the object still lying where it was previously. _

"_Will you use it?" the voice whispered again. He looked up, startled. He took a ready stance once more, though he felt his legs begin to shake. He was frightened, and he didn't know what was happening. It was all going by too fast._

"_Will you unlock the power within?" it hissed again. He turned, the darkness still his only companion. He wanted to shout, but no sound came out. Am I still dreaming? He thought. He paused to look down at the item in his hand. He wondered what the voice meant by "using it". He shook his head looking up, but only to find the scenery had changed once more. He was back at the old clock-tower. The two hooded figures were once again at the foot of the tower. He noticed how one was searching all over himself, the other watching as he searched the ground below him. _

_He knew what they were looking for. Walking over to them, he extended a hand, trying to give back what he took. They either pretended he wasn't there, or they really could not see him, because they didn't respond to his presence. _

"_They won't see you," the same voice hissed. Startled, he turned to where it had come from. Sill nothing visible. The figures in front of him must've not heard him either, because they continued to look for the object in his hands. He wanted to scream again, but no sound. He looked towards the clock again, the hands fixed at the same number._

_He found that odd, considering time was flowing again. "It was fun," the voice whispered form behind him. He didn't turn this time, but rather closed his eyes, wishing it went away. He tried ignoring it, and still it persisted. He figured, perhaps engaging his mind elsewhere would work better. It didn't._

"_I'd like to do this again someday," it continued from behind. "If you'd let me." He could hear the tone of the voice soften, almost a hint of sadness in it. He wanted to turn, but found his body unwilling. "You can wake up now," he heard the voice state. _

_He opened his eyes, blinking in confusion. It didn't matter what of his choice, since the scenery around him began to quickly fade. The twin hooded figures, the clock-tower and… his eyes widened as the scene pulled away. It was only for a moment, but he could see it. A pair of soft eyes was looking back at him from afar, near the two shadows. He tried to look closer, but the scene only pulled away, until…_

"GAH!" he gasped, panting and breathing. He was clutching at his chest, his breathing rapid. He could feel his nerves tense as he struggled to catch his air. It didn't take too long before he finally managed too. Taking this chance, he quickly looked around the room, scanning all the other beds within it. He sighed, relieved. Luckily for him, no one had woken up. Although… he quickly placed his hand back at his bare chest, finding it come out with liquid. He was sweating profusely. He sighed again, this time causing a stir within the room.

Panicking, he jolted down, closing his eyes hoping that whoever had woken up did not see him. They must have not, because he soon heard the squeak of an old bed, followed by a soft hum. Someone was dreaming. He kept his initial position, dropping an arm over his forehead. He was facing towards the ceiling now, trying to think back towards the dream again. He silently moaned at the thought, wanting to forget it ever happened. "That voice," he found himself silently stating aloud. "It's always that same voice," he muttered aloud. He kept his eyes towards the ceiling, trying to focus his thoughts into finding patters within it. He figured it was best, if he did not want to relapse unto that same dream, since he knew he wouldn't be getting any more sleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Digi-break**: on Jason (continued) – Jason… Hmm, where to begin with him. I feel like he will prove to be complicated in fleshing out, since I don't plan on creating stock characters (despite that fact that they appear to be in the beginning). Well let's see for one, and if you haven't guessed it already, Jason _is_ going to be the leader of the new group. Meaning he _will_ be the Fire Guardian. Jason's history is a little rocky (I won't go into any details), which will be the main culprit to his rather complex personality. By nature Jason is competitive, rash, outgoing, charming and zealous. He likes trade work, and can do well with anything involving forgery, mechanics and the like. He's also good at sports, especially football, and he's the type to never (well almost never) back down from a physical fight, which shows that he can both courageous and foolish at times.

On the other hand, he is also timid (again, complex personality), and can be an attention-whore-slash-drama queen err… king. This again, is attributed to his history. He seeks attention wherever he goes, and will always support his friends if they support him. Basically he's the YOLO type (for any of you lovers of the idiotic acronym).

Jason has auburn hair, and his eyes are Amber, with slight ruby in them (don't believe red eyes exist, look it up). He's the type that many will oogle for at first glance, but since he can be a jerk from the get-go it can be a major turn-off for anyone. Again, this has a rather deep history to it. Also, he's never had a girlfriend and… awe I won't ruin it there. Well, yep… there you have it, and again I won't be creating stock, that is, superficial characters.

* * *

It was the next day, and the Digidestined, both the new and the old had gathered by the conference table once again at the request of the celestial digimon. The time on the mounted clock read: eight twenty-nine. It was the morning.

Sitting at their respective seats from the previous day, the Digidestined all looked towards Seraphimon as he stood to release the last bit of details before their departure to the real world once more.

"First, I'd like to welcome you all once more," he greeted to his guests. He moved about the front of the room, nodding to a nearby Swanmon. The white bird quickly nodded back leaving the room. The others watched as the white bird quickly ran out of the room, before Seraphimon cleared his throat to grab their attention. "As we have discussed yesterday,' he began, "We," he motioned to his equals, "will be sending you all to the new dimension," he declared.

"And what will we do when we get there?" Tai asked. He sat beside Ophanimon, who by now had stood as well.

"The card I gave you," Ophanimon reminded. "You will use that in particular location. A place called _Mazzaroth's Row _to travel to final digital plane," she stated. "Though," she quickly continued before anyone could ask, "I must warn the location remains hidden from us," she added. "You'll have to find it yourselves, but there was a clue given to us during our research of your world,' she faced the new Digidestined. "One that may prove useful."

The Digidestined waited for her to continue, only to find that Swanmon returned. She quickly ran up to Seraphimon, handing him, what looked to be a weird shaped medallion of some sort. He took it from her nodding, before excusing her. It wasn't until she left out of the large chamber, before another word was spoken.

"This is what you will use to help you find the location in which to use the card," Seraphimon proclaimed, while holding out the medallion for all to see.

"What is it?" Izzy asked from behind Joe. He had his notebook out, recording the conversation.

"It's not what it is, but rather what is engraved within," Ophanimon intercepted. Seraphimon handed her the medallion, to which she raised again. She used a beam of light to help project the item onto a larger scale. Everyone awed at what they saw. A band of the solar system was found etched across the medallion, with tiny symbols encircling the middle.

"Is that our world?" Sora asked, pointing towards the third planet from the sun.

Ophanimon nodded her head. "No," she remarked. The others looked at her in confusion. "It is theirs," she alluded to the ten Digidestined at the back of the conference table. Everyone turned heads, eyeing the newcomers.

"Our world?" Victoria chimed in. "I don't understand."

"Let me explain," Ophanimon implored. "You see, despite the idea that you both live within the same world, you couldn't live further apart." This garnered more confused looks, to which she chuckled. "What I mean is, that you world is separated by an invisible line, creating alternate dimensions," she stated. "It's yet unknown how this phenomenon is capable of being, but we think this may have some correlation to the digital world and its planes," she stated.

"Meaning?" Victoria continued.

Ophanimon only shrugged. "There isn't anything ambiguous behind my statement," she declared. "What I said is what I meant. Your world is separated into different dimensions, and to live within one or the other is something Cherubimon, Seraphimon and I are looking into," she clarified. "Until then we must focus on the matter at hand."

"And that's going to the human… our world," the blond regressed.

The green angel-digimon nodded. She then looked back up at the enlarged medallion, everyone following suite. "This depiction we believe holds the key to finding the door into the fifth digital plane, which in accordance, can only be accessed from the fifth dimension. Having said that," she looked back down. "You'll all have to use this as your guide to finding the door all by yourselves as I have stated previously."

"You won't help us?" Matt asked from in front of Sora.

The angel nodded. "I'm afraid neither Cherubimon, Seraphimon or I can help you from this world," she stated. "Even more so, I hate to admit, but we don't know much about what this symbol means,' she stated, looking back at the medallion.

"How do you know it has anything to do with finding the door then," the blond continued.

This time Izzy took the chance to step in. "Matt, don't you get it?" the red-head asked his friend in an, 'it's so obvious I can't believe you don't see it, king of way". His friend only shrugged back. He sighed at that. "The celestial digimon having been doing research on the fifth plane, they have located the problem found within the terminal space itself, and in doing so have called upon our help to fix it," he stated.

Matt only looked at him, his face blank.

He sighed again.

"He means, that along the way, the…,' she paused, looking at the three angel digimon. "Celestial digimon have found this medallion and upon further inspection have discovered that it holds some connection to our world. Is that correct?" Victoria asked, looking back at the angel digimon. They nodded.

"And not only your world, but as well the final digital plane," Seraphimon corrected.

"Yeah, that too," she reinstated.

Ophanimon, who looked clearly disturbed at how everyone hijacked her speech, returned to the matter at hand. She clasped her hands together to gather everyone's attention once again. "Children," she irritably called them. "We must not prolong this conversation any longer," she warned. She then pointed towards the mounted clock, heeding to them advice. "The portal to return to your world," she pointed to the newcomers, "will open shortly. You all cannot miss this, as this portal only opens once every month, when the hour is at its peak," she stated again.

Some looked confused by her remark, but no one questioned it in fear that she may lose her patience. "Where do we go then?" Tai asked, standing ready. He walked forward, a hand at his side.

The green angel smiled. "We will head to the roof of this castle," she stated. "There we will cast a portal for you all to enter through. But we cannot miss the rise of the sun,' she warned. "Without its augmenting power, the portal will fail to send you all into the fifth world," she claimed.

This caused everyone to nod, all standing ready to leave. Seraphimon took it upon himself to close the enlarged symbol of the medallion. It was soon before they all headed towards the door that led out of the chamber, its wide doors creating enough space for all of them to enter though without any pushing or shoving.

It wasn't too long, before they all stood at the foot of the castle's roof , having only climbed a few stairs from their previous location. The sun was rising, and a few clouds began to part ways as they arrived to the top.

"So here's where we're going to see the last of this world?" Matt remarked coolly. He was holding Sora's hand, as they made their way to the top. Behind them everyone else climbed, until finally the last of them stood idle, watching while the angel-digimon emerged from the bottom, the light of the outside reflecting on their wings.

All three angel digimon gathered at the center of the large expanse, their hands extended.

"That quick?" Tai remarked. He was standing near them, his expression perplexed.

"We must do this quickly," Seraphimon answered him. He motioned to where the sun was rising. "We've actually prolonged the conversation more than needed," he proclaimed.

"Oh," Tai yelped, staring back at him with a sheepish grin.

"It's fine," he constituted, "but we must hurry nonetheless. The hour is striking nine, and once it hits we must be prepared to send you all through the portal," he declared. He then moved his hands for everyone to gather together.

As everyone did, he, Ophanimon and Cherubimon who were clustered in a circle, extended their hands once again. Everyone watched as a tiny ball of light appeared before them, rapidly enlarging until a hole ripped open from thin air. The sun's rays fixated on it, causing the hole to expand, a swirl of make-shift phantasmal snares gurgled from inside.

The older group, having recognized it, all made their way to it. The leader at the fore paused, looking back at the angel digimon who were fixed on keeping the portal open. "I can't believe we're leaving so fast," Tai remarked, looking at them. "It feels like we just got here and everything," he rambled. "But um…," he paused. "What's our immediate goal once we get there?" he asked.

"Besides finding the location," Seraphimon replied. "You will meet with the other Digidestined. From there it is up to you all to keep track of where you're heading and what's going to happen," he declared.

Tai nodded, bowing them one final good-bye before heading through the portal. Everyone watched as he disappeared behind it, readying themselves to go through it. One-by-one they walked through, Matt being next followed by Sora who was still holding his hand as they made their way through. Next up was Joe who reluctantly entered through, but not before whining about something to do with nausea. After him Izzy, who bowed as well, entered through. Following closely behind him was Mimi who was whining about having to leave her Palmon behind. Of course none of the Digidestined could take their digimon with them into the new world. That would only set off the people who lived their, and thus' make it harder to find the new location.

Following suite were Kari and Takeru who quickly entered through, but not before saying good-bye to their respective partners. Something they would miss along the way.

It wasn't until the last ten were there, when Seraphimon spoke up once more. The auburn-haired young man was standing next to him, ready to enter though the portal.

"I know this may all be sudden for you all," he stated, while looking at them. "The things you have seen, and the things' you'll encounter in the future," he continued. "But I want you all to know that we will be supporting you from behind, every step of the way."

Jason, who looked ready to respond, held back, only nodding back.

"And whatever you do," Seraphimon spoke, just as Jason was ready to enter. "Never forget your mission," he proclaimed. "Don't lose sight of who you are, and the things that are most important to you," he forewarned. "And good luck," he added. 'You'll need it."

Having not turned for the last part, Jason only nodded from affront, before disappearing behind the convoluted mass.

After him following closely was October, who bowed, before entering. Next up were both Trevor and Serena who quickly entered through, followed by Aaron and Arisa. Liam trailed from behind, a rigid expression on his face as he entered through. Victoria, who was up next looked towards the angel digimon, her face in a nervous gesture. "I know we just met, and all this is happening rather quickly," she expressed rather fervently. "But… I guess I just want to say good-bye with it meaning like I'm saying it," she chuckled.

"You will do more than enough for us," Ophanimon proclaimed. The blond turned to look at her, smiling and bowing, before heading towards the portal. She turned at the last minute, staring at them again. "Oh, before I forget. I know this is last minute, but um…,' she paused again. "Oh, hell I'll just say it," she roared. "Will we be getting a partner?" she asked rather suddenly.

This caused the green angel to smile, almost chuckling, though it was only for a moment, before she turned serious. "I cannot say you will be receiving nothing," she stated, "but as to what you may… you'll have to find it on your own," she declared. "There is much of your world and the final plane that we must still lean about, but I do hope whatever you may receive, it may guide you towards finding and fixing whatever it is that's is corrupting our worlds," she finished.

Victoria nodded, smiling before turning again. She didn't get the answer she wanted, but nonetheless she wasn't about to allow them to know that. Instead she quickly made her way into the portal disappearing behind it several seconds later.

Finally, only when two of the members remained, and the portal was clearly losing the last bits of its hold, did Seraphimon, Cherubimon and Ophanimon stop to look at them, their eyes in wonder.

They recognized something different about them. They, whose expressions were distant, almost dream-like, as if they were in another time— surreal in nature.

Both of them stood close by, eyeing the three digimon, though their thoughts clearly elsewhere. It wasn't until Cherubimon spoke up, did they stop to fully acknowledge their presence.

"Good luck children," he stated, speaking for them all.

They only nodded saying no word. Their expressions remained indifferent as they walked towards the portal. As the last of them entered through the portal slowly faded, until completely vanishing into thin air.

By this time, the angel digimon rested their hands at their sides again. They looked at each other, faces in wonder and worry. "Those two," Seraphimon announced. "It seems their aura was different from the others," he declared.

The other two nodded in agreement. "Their path shall' be different," Ophanimon concluded. "It seems we've only had the chance to see them now. I was wondering why theirs wasn't visible. My only regret now is wishing we had said something earlier," she reprimanded. She looked on, her eyes distant.

Seraphimon walked forward, placing a hand to her shoulder. "We're too late for that now," he stated.

She looked up, staring at him. "I only hope those two may find a way to…," she paused, shaking her head. "It's wrong, isn't it?" she asked, knowing all to well what his answer would be.

"I'm afraid so," he replied grimly. "My only question is… why didn't we see it before?" The three grew solemn, their faces in contempt as the looked on towards sky. They noticed the coming of the clouds, as they slowly made their way to them. Although the sun shone high in the sky on this auspicious day, it only foretold the coming of something worse.

* * *

Review? I don't know. I don't know, like the headnote, I'm out of things to say down here... for now. My heads just not with me today I suppose *laughs*.


	4. Chapter IV: Simon Price

**I have to stop writing these stories at night. By then I'm so tired that the later half always ends up all distorted, fast and lame. I hope I did well to explain the shift of scenes. Okay, so here's another chapter. What can I say here? **

**Disclaimer: I don't... ah whatever. You all know the story. Something about owning and not owning or whatever.**

* * *

The space around them shifted, a warping sound distilling the air as they each appeared from its 2-dimensional rupture. A few people looked on, staring at them with confusion in their faces, but they ignored them, some only slightly blushing trying to leave the area as quick as possible.

"Look at all these people staring," Sora commented. She is holding onto Matt's hand, pressing her grip tighter in fluster. "You'd think they know it to be rude to look," she added.

The blond eyed past her, his face in distress.

"What?" she asked. She turned to where he was staring, blinking. In front of them were the others, but even more so…, "No way," was all that managed to escape her lips before a blast sounded drowning out the rest of her sentence.

"Halt!" a couple of people, who looked to be in uniforms, instigated, coming over to the eighteen adolescent teenagers. Another blast shot from a nearby man's gun, the barrel end pointed straight at them. The people weren't looking at them, they who had suddenly appeared from the portal, but rather at the men in uniform.

The group of eighteen raised their hands in surrender, unknowing why these men suddenly stopped them and for what reason. Tai, being the leader of the pact naturally took this as a sign to ask a few questions. He cautiously walked over to the nearest man, his face in grin, though his nerves tense. "What seems to be the problem, uh…," he paused, staring at the man's attire up and down. "Sir?" he asked, unable to think of anything else to call him.

The man remained quiet, though his focus was undeterred. Tai turned his attention to the footsteps of someone nearby. He figured this was the man in charge, as he made his way up to them. He grew flustered as people began to gather around them, forming a dense crowd.

"Are you Taichi Kamiya?" the man asked. He seemed to be of the tall build, frame on the wide side, a built body. Tai could tell this man meant business, and his attitude seemed to match.

"Who's asking?" he questioned back suspiciously.

The man scoffed. "No questions," he commanded. "I was told to bring you in. End of story."

At this the brown-haired teen chuckled. He turned to stare at the others who were all attentive to the situation. He couldn't believe their luck. Just a few minutes into the new world and already they were being persecuted… err or whatever, he thought. "So, I'm guessing we have no choice in the matter then?" he quipped, turning to pay the man attention once more.

He nodded, lowering his gun slightly. "Didn't I say no questions?" he asked sternly.

The right of his face seemed to twitch at what Tai noticed to be probably from the large scar over it. He conceded, shrugging. "Sorry, just trying to figure out what's going on here, before you drag us to…," he paused again, eyeing the members behind the man. He raised an eyebrow before looking back at him. "Where are you taking us exactly?" he asked, unable to help himself.

The man seemed to be losing his patience rather quickly. "You'll find out soon enough," he replied. He raised his gun again, pointing for them to follow. "Come this way," he motioned. "We'll drive through these," he beckoned pointing towards three large vehicles.

The large group stared on at the great limousines, surprised at the transportation they were receiving despite the "unique" greeting. They all followed suite, some with heads lowered, wondering why the gathering crowd didn't bother to call for help. They were being kidnapped by mysterious men, with large guns, who could possibly take them to the middle of nowhere, out of nowhere.

"You're not going to beat us up or kill us or something?" Tai asked, trying to make it sound as if the question was posed in a joking matter. He climbed through the back seat, inching on over to make room for the others. He watched as Sora, Matt, Mimi, Takeru and Kari all scooted in. They didn't really have a say in the matter as the uniformed men gave strict orders as to who would go where, in a sense.

The leader of the pact seemed to be indifferent to the situation. He only stared on, ignoring the stares of the public as they watched his men take away the eighteen children by limousine. The original eight watched as the man walked over to the driver's seat, placing himself in before starting the vehicle. He looked through the reflection mirror, eyeing them once more. "It won't be long now," he informed them. "And please, make yourselves comfortable," he grinned, a pair of bright teeth showing.

The original six smiled back, some nervously, before staring out the window. The newcomers along with Izzy and Joe were all getting inside separate vehicles as well. It wasn't until the man began to drive off, their sight deterred, before they turned to look each other. All their expressions were similar in face.

"What the ef' just happened?" Matt asked clearly confused by the situation. They only just arrived to the new world, and already they were being taken to who knows where. They only hoped that wherever they were being taken, it would answer the questions that were in all their minds: who were these men, and what connection did they have with them? And most importantly, how did they know where to find them, if they were looking for them? Something they couldn't help but think about throughout the entire drive.

* * *

**Digi-break**: The scene is sudden, but keep reading on and you'll find out why. I do hope it wasn't too confusing (since it's meant to be). Not much for a Digi-break here, simply a change of scene's reference. Yeah…

* * *

The three limousines parked into a secluded back-lot. No signs of life stirred except the rustling of the wind, which only created an even more ominous feeling inside their guts. The eighteen teens all got out of the car, some weary as to what was happening. Here they were being escorted hospitably, by men with guns.

"Where are we going?" Joe asked once getting out of the limo. He had walked over to the driver's side. The man opened the door, but made no attempt to answer him. Joe scoffed at that, wondering why the man didn't bother to answer.

Another man walked up to him. It was the leader. "Come with us," he motioned the group standing behind Joe, which consisted of Izzy, Aaron, Arisa, Trevor and Serena. "All your questions will be answered soon enough," he assured.

Looking at the gun in his hands, Joe made no attempt to fight back. He couldn't even if he wanted to, though he made a memo to look for an opening if possible. He turned to the others, waving a hand for them to do as the man said. "Guess we have no choice guys," he nervously stated.

The others nodded in agreement. He smiled at that. "Man, if I end up getting sick because of this, I'm going to throw a fit," he threatened the air around him while holding his stomach.

Izzy, who stood behind him, sighed. He placed a hand over his friend's shoulder. 'Same old Joe," he commented.

The blue-haired young teen smiled back, blushing a little before beginning to follow the man. They all followed suite.

They met up with the other groups by the entrance of a tall building, though it seemed to be crumbling from the outside.

"You don't really expect us to go in there?' Mimi queried her expression in disgust. "I mean look at the thing, it looks like it could fall on us any minute," she added.

The leader of the older men walked forward, an indifferent expression plastered on his face. He grabbed the rusty double-door, opening it from one side. "Ladies first," he quipped, offering for Mimi to enter first, who had been standing close to it.

She chuckled, clicking her tongue in annoyance. She knew she didn't like the man one bit, but the last thing she needed was to make a scene. Instead she smiled back, holding her head high. The rest of the girls followed suite, followed by the boys and then the uniformed men.

The hallway was darkly lit, barely anything clear to the sight except several feet into it. The entire group had once again merged, and Tai took the opportunity to stand at the front next to the three uniformed men. He seemed ready to ask several more questions, but the man at the front stopped him before he could.

"No, we're not leading you somewhere to torture you or something," the man concluded. He seemed to hold his head in a soft expression, but upon realizing it, he changed it to a more stern counter-part. "Let's just be on our way," he ordered. He stiffened his pose.

Tai took this as a sign to back off, and so he retreated closer to his group, his head lowered in thought. They all walked for what seemed forever in silence, before the three men stopped before an empty wall. Tai was ready to question it, but the man raised a finger for him to not.

"Watch this," he smirked, before placing a hand at the blank sterile wall.

This surprised him as well the others, when the wall responded to his touch. It glowed brightly, revealing tiny bits of data. The man placed his hand on it, causing the bright device to shoot a laser up and down. It was a hidden scanner.

It wasn't too long after that, before the wall began to shake. They all watched as it shifted, the wall slowly moving to the right, revealing a brighter passageway, albeit narrower. The leader of the group of eighteen chuckled, a smirk on his face. "I'm guessing there's more to you guys than I thought," he quipped.

The man remained solemn. He motioned for them to follow once again. They all made their way in, some bumping into each other trying to fit through. The wall behind them closed at the touch of another one of the uniformed men, who stayed at the rear of the party.

Several more minutes of silence ensued, before they all came into a room that was brightly lit. This one seemed to be packed with all sorts of machinery, gizmos and—

"Is that a DBMS?" Izzy asked, with obvious stars in his eyes. Despite the situation, he seemed focused solely on the rather large and complex giant screen that seemed to be computing large amounts of data. Someone beside him seemed to be doing the same.

"I think we have finally found someone like you, Izzy," Takeru commented to the red-head.

Izzy blinked, turning to find a blond standing next to him. It was Victoria. He blushed, jumping a few inches back in surprise. "Ah, oh hey," he muttered, holding a hand back in nervousness. She ignored him, instead continuing to focus on the large computer-looking device. Their small moment was interrupted by a man coming out from behind a chair facing the modular system.

He walked up to them, holding a hand out to greet the leader of the uniformed men. "Ah, it's great to see you Trenton." He shifted his focus to the people standing behind him, smiling even more, if possible. "Oh, and I see you brought what I asked for," he witted.  
'Hey, listen here bub," Mimi angrily retorted, pointing a finger at the well-dressed man.

"Did she just call him bub?" a few people behind her stated, along with the man in front.

He blinked. "Did you just call me bub?" he asked, clearly perplexed. He chuckled.

"That's not the point," she yelled, trying to stir the conversation away from her "unique" use of an adjective. "I'm not some collector's toy or something. So if you think you can collect me, you better think twice about it," she threatened.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Who said anything about collecting?" he asked, confused by her sudden reaction. He turned his attention to the others standing by her. "Is she always like this?" he asked in a worried tone.

"Sometimes worse," Sora bemused.

The auburn-haired girl turned, giving her a spiteful glare. This caused the red-head to pale in face. She could see daggers coming out of Mimi's eyes.

The man took this opportunity to introduce himself. "Enough trivialities," he implored, gaining the attention from them all once again. He cleared his throat before continuing. "My name is Simon Price," he greeted. He moved a few strands of his hair to the side, shifting his glasses somewhat. "I am a data expert and, and more importantly, I research the fundamentals of what you all call the Digital World."

This caused several murmurs throughout the large group. He took this as a sign to continue. "Please, please," he held a hand out. "I'll explain everything." He turned his attention to the man he called Trenton, nodding.

The others wondered what that meant, as the man only nodded back, before heading on over to what Izzy called DBMS, that is, the large computer resting before the center of the room.

"Now if you'll follow me," Simon offered. He walked over to the huge monitor, everyone following suite. "This is the Database Modular System," he concluded, pointing towards the rather large screen. "It—,"

"Houses all the data within the given premises," Victoria and Izzy stated in unison. They both turned to each other, blushing.

The man smiled. "Yes," he praised. He turned back to the screen. "But more importantly, it allows us to monitor whatever is going on from inside the Digital World itself."

To this, Tai walked up. "How do you know about the Digital World?" he asked. 'And more importantly, how did you know about us, and where to look?"

The man, sensing his disarray, quelled his suspicions, by offering to explain further. He moved a hand to the side. The leader of the uniformed men, who was sitting behind the screen, stood to make room for him. "This," he alluded to the screen. "Is how we were able to find you."

The others looked up, some awing as they stared at what they were seeing. In the screen, it showed the three celestial digimon, inside what they recognized to be the conference room. "How's this possible?" Tai asked, looking back at the man.

"It's actually really simple Tai," Izzy took the chance to explain. He walked over to his friend. "The DBMS is a machine that's meant to tap into all sorts of data, by accessing their peripherals. It's in a way phishing, but more legally," he explained. He could see the confusion on the teens face. He smirked at that. "In other words, Tai, it's a hacking system."

Tai made an "O" face, though his confusion remained.

Izzy rolled his eyes, while nodding. "Although, what I don't get is how you managed to hack into the Digital World's data system let alone come across it?" he queried, with suspicion. He was looking to the man dressed in a white tux.

Simon took this as chance to explain himself. "Don't get too ahead of me now," he distinguished. He stood again. "First, let me explain how I've come to know about the Digital World." He sighed. "Well, let's see, a few years back, when I use to work for this rather large data company, the details are not important," he assured. 'Anyway, when I use to work for them, the higher up one day came down to ask us for something. At first I was skeptical, since higher up never, if at all, show their face to their employees. Well, to avoid digressing, I'll skip over that." Some snickered, though they remained silent. He adjusted his glasses once more before continuing. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not some malicious person bent on destroying you all or something," he assured.

"Then what are we exactly doing here?" Takeru took the chance to question it. He looked over to his friends. "I don't know whether we've just gotten to use to helping others, but shouldn't we be concerned that we were just kidnapped?" he asked.

"Please, allow me to explain," Simon implored. He turned to the blond. "I know all this may seem rather sudden, but I distress, my intentions are honorable, if at best."

Takeru eyed him suspiciously, but decided to concede to avoid further argument. That and he could see from the corner of his eye, Tai glaring at him to back down. He merely fumed a breath of hot air.

Simon nodded, smiling weakly before speaking again. "As I was saying," he digressed. "The company I worked for had us investigate the phenomenon of "living data" as they liked to call it," he explained. "Now, before you get ahead of me again, do not ask what this means. My former company had no recollection of what this "living data" meant, outside of telling us about it."

"So what happened exactly then?" Izzy asked. He seemed to be interested at the machine in front of him. Perhaps a little too interested.

Simon nodded. "Well, this "living data" as it turned out, came to be, what you all call, Digimon. At the time of our investigation, a few others as well as myself, couldn't believe what we found. At first we were skeptical about what all this meant, but eventually we learned to tap into the data's unit."

"By using this," Izzy pointed to the large monitor. He was closer now.

Simon nodded. "No, I'm afraid. Back then we worked in smaller environment. But that's beside the point." He turned to the others. "To speed this along, I'll give you the run-down."

"You mean you weren't giving us the short version?" Matt quipped.

The man in the white tux frowned, but quickly changed in expression. "Basically, after discovering this data, we began to do more research on it. We cracked into the system, giving us the ability to control some units. Using these said units…," he paused, his eyes dimming. The others noticed this, but chose to not question it.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'll have to skip over a few things if you don't all mind?" he expressed. The others shrugged.

"Well you kidnapped us, threatened us, and held us at gun point… I'm pretty sure we can take this," Matt sniped sarcastically. This earned him a jab at his side. It was from Sora. "Hey, don't blame me," he regarded, looking down at her.

She made a face at him.

"I understand your position," Simon importuned.

"You do?" Sora and Matt asked in unison.

He nodded. "I didn't want to resort to kidnapping you all as soon as you arrived, but when I heard you were coming here, I had no other choice. It was the fastest way I can get to you before you all left," he confessed.

"You mean to the fifth dimension?" Takeru asked.

He nodded again.

"All right man, can you start making some sense?" Matt brashly asked, growing impatient. This earned him another look from his girlfriend, to which he questioned. "What? He's the one you should be glaring at, not me."

She made another face. "Yeah, but you don't have to be a jerk about it," she sniped.

He seemed ready to make a comeback, before Simon interrupted them. "He's right," he intercepted the argument. This caused confused stares from both parties. He sighed.

"Can you guys all just shut it and let the man explain," Tai bellowed. This caused a few surprised stares, but he remained unfazed by their glares. He turned to Simon, nodding for him to continue.

"I'm sorry to put you all through this, but as I mentioned. I needed to see you all before you left. It's about…," he paused, trailing. His eyes grew distant once more. "I- I need you all to answer me something before I should continue. Something I've been wondering for a while."

The group before him could sense an ominous tone in his voice. It didn't help when he nodded to the three men before them to leave.

They all watched as the three men left the immediate room. It wasn't until they were gone, with indication of a closing door, before Simon spoke again. "You there," he pointed to the back. The others turned to see where he was pointing, only to gasp in surprise. "I want you to come here. You're the one this question is meant for," he alluded.

Tai, being the older brother turned to face him. "Wait, why her," he asked defensively. He stood between him and his sister, a look of suspicion entering his face.

Kari, who had been picked out from the crowd, now stood before her brother, pushing him aside. "Tai, will you relax," she implored. "I'm not a little girl anymore, I can take of myself." She walked over to Simon, plucking herself before him. "So what is it?" she asked, her expression solemn.

The others, especially Takeru and Tai looked on. Both males took on a ready stance, perhaps subconsciously as they didn't know they did.

The man smiled a bit. "I want you to answer me this," he spoke again. "You are the bearer of Light, are you not?"

The girl seemed astonished by his question. Not by the question itself, but rather at his in-depth knowledge. It was one thing to know who they were and about the Digital World, but to know more than at face-value information could appall anyone.

"I see I may have overstepped some boundaries," he conceded. "For that I apologize."

She nodded her head in disagreement. "Don't be. I was just surprised by your question is all." She smiled at him. "But to answer your question, Yes, I hold the crest of light. But—,"

"Then it serves me to tell you this then," he intercepted. He looked over to the others, before looking back at her. "There is a place not of this world or the Digital One, the one you are all seeking to enter. I implore you, whatever it is you do, I need you to promise me something."

At this, the girl made an astonished expression. Simon knew more than she had initially thought. "Wha- what's the promise?" she asked with weary.

Simon looked past her again, eyeing the man she knew as her brother. The man seemed to be focused on him, much like the others. To this he smiled. He then turned to look at Kari again. "Promise me you won't lose your light," he precluded.

She looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked, titling her head slightly.

He chuckled. "Exactly what it sounds like. Don't lose your light Kari Kamiya, not in this world or the next. You'll find there are things which tempt us, things that make us do things we don't want to do," he whispered the last bit, barely audible for the others to hear.

This perplexed the girl even more. She was ready to ask another question, but he spoke up before she could have the chance.

"Now for my question to you all," he spoke aloud. He trudged on over to the monitor. "I'm afraid I may have to explain the last bit some other time," he digressed the situation. "There are more important matters to discuss, and we have strayed too long now," he admitted.

"What do you mean?" Tai asked. The entire group seemed more perplexed than before. This man was half-assing all his statements, digressing way too much and pretty much just jumping from subject to subject, not even bothering to explain anything thoroughly.

He shook his head. "Exactly what I said, and what brings me to my point of this… kidnapping," he stated the last part slowly. "As I have stated earlier, I need you all to answer me this. Do any of you know where the gate leading to the final place is at?" he asked.

"By final place, you mean the final dimension?" Izzy asked.

The man nodded. "There's no other."

They all nodded in reluctance.

He frowned. "Well no worries, because I can help you all there," he concluded.

This caused them all to raise their heads, bright expressions on their faces. "You know where it's at?" Tai asked. He was closer to him now.

The man nodded. "Found it long ago, during an expedition with…," he trailed again. His eyes grew distant once more. The others watched, wondering why he refused to talk about his past. She shook his head. "The details don't matter. All that deos is that I managed to find it."

"How do you know it's the one?" Matt asked, clearly skeptical.

The man smiled at him. "I can see we're going to get along just fine," he quipped. The blond only snickered back, but he turned his attention to others, choosing to ignore him. "You friend here raises a good point nonetheless. How do I know where the final door is at. Well, you all showed me," he admitted.

"You're talking about the medallion aren't you?" Izzy asked, clearly a step ahead of many of the others.

The man smiled. "The very same. When those celestial digimon as you all call them. When they showed you the medallion's symbol, and explained it further, I recognized it instantly and just knew I had to see you all before it was too late."

"Too late?" Mimi asked. She was standing by Tai and Izzy who were closer to the man, Kari on the other side.

"Yes. You see, the symbol on the medallion correlates to all my years of research on the Digital World's history and… well to explain this in a more condensed form. I will need all of your assistance."

Tai sighed at this. Simon really was giving him a migraine. He wasn't making sense at all. He held a hand out for him to see. "Uh, Simon. Can you slow down some," he expressed. "I'm still in the part of trying to figure out where the final door is at, and you knowing its location."

The man in the white tux frowned again. "You must forgive me for this. I was told I have a rather, petite attention span quite a few times in my lifetime," he chuckled. "But of course, you are right. Back to the "final" door," he digressed. "As I mentioned, I know its location, but first I want to know whether you'd be willing to assist me," he offered.

"So we're playing deals now, eh," Matt sniped.

Sora who was clearly annoyed of his brash attitude took this as a chance to yell at him. "Matt can you shut the hell up," she screamed. This caused a few stares, particularly from their own inner circle. Her expression remained nevertheless.

The blond seemed ready to say something, but thought about it further, and chose to remain silent.

"I'm very sorry again," Simon apologized, in clear indication of what his actions may have caused.

The red-head shook her head. "Don't be. You're not to blame…," she stopped herself. "Well, technically you did kidnap us, but your intentions are, as you said, noble," she uttered.

He smiled at this.

Kari was next to speak. "Um… I don't want to seem rude, but shouldn't we be getting back to the conversation. We've been running in circles, and I'm a bit confused as to where all this is going," she concluded.

The two blushed. "Yes, you're right," Simon agreed. "Now where were we?"

"You were going to tell us about the door, but first we need to assist you on something," Takeru, who now stood by Kari, explained.

The man made an 'Ah" expression. "It's more of a trifle really," he brushed an arm against his tux. "I just need to insert inside you all a data chip. One that can allow me to monitor your movements, so-to-speak."

"Data chip?" Izzy asked. He now stood beside him. "You mean like a micro chipping, sensory device?"

The man nodded. "It will allow me to keep track of where you all are, so whenever I need to find you, this," he pointed towards the large screen," will help me locate you. That way I can offer you some assistance in return."

"Wait how's that possible?" Tai asked.

Izzy took this as an opportunity to chime in again.

"It's rather easy. The micro-chip he'll insert inside us will act as a homing device. Then, if I'm correct, using this said homing device, he'll be able to wire in a sound system that will allow him to hear our conversations; as well we'll be able to hear him. Is that correct?" he looked up.

Simon shook his head. "Of course, with the data chip, you will all have the freedom to shut me out completely or audibly should you wish," he assured.

"Wait I don't get it," Kari chimed. "Why send us with these chips in the first place? Is there something you're trying to do?" she asked.

This caught him off guard. He held both hands in a defensive stance. "No, don't get me wrong. Like I said, my intentions are honorable. I don't mean anything wrong by it. I simply want to…," he trailed. "I want to collect data from inside the world you'll all be entering," he stated rather quickly. Almost sounding forced.

They all nodded their heads. Tai, who took this a sign to accept, walked forward. "Well I guess we're in," he proposed. "Now about that door?"

Simon smiled. "It's behind there," he pointed towards the direction behind them all. They all turned, looking intently, only to find a blank wall with wires sticking out from all the machinery that spanned the bluish room.

"Where?" Mimi asked.

The man walked over to it. "It's hidden," he proclaimed. "I used a special device to cloak it in case of intruders or something," he claimed.

"By special device you mean?' the girl continued.

"It's nothing really," he stated, while stepping on one of the wires. "I just set up a wall barricade to block the door." True to his words, upon moving backwards away from the cables, did the wall begin to shake. They all watched as the wall, like the one they had come through, began to shift revealing a rather old and rusty looking stone tablet the size of the entire missing part.

"This is the door?" Tai remarked, walking over to the large slate.

"It has to be," Joe chimed. "Look at the image on it. It's the same one from the medallion," he concluded.

To this, Tai pulled out the medallion from his pocket, holding out into the air for everyone to see. "Huh, well would you look at that. It is the right door. Only," he turned, his eyebrows furrowing. "How did you find it?" he asked Simon.

The man smiled. "I didn't find it. You see, the door wasn't always here."

"What do you mean?" the young man asked.

He nodded. "That's for another time. As for now," he digressed, "your mission is to head on over to the final realm is it not?" he asked.

Tai thought over it. He looked over only to see his friends nodding for him to let it go for now. He conceded, but not before making a sheepish face. "I guess so," he reluctantly agreed.

"Then it's settled," Simon happily uttered. "Now all you need is to insert the data chips," he ordained. "Preferably somewhere safe."

"How about on these?" Izzy offered holding out the same white device given to them on their first adventure.

He turned to look at him. "I suppose those will do," he assured. He walked on over to a table, muttering a few things before yelling an "AHA". This grabbed everyone's attention as he made his way back to them.

"I only have twelve of them," he opened his hands to reveal a set of tiny green chips.

"Well that's okay," Izzy commended, taking one from his palm. "We'll just have to stick close together," he added, while trying to locate a perfect slot for him to enter the chip. He must've found a perfect spot, because he then offered for the others to take theirs out and do the same.

It wasn't until four remained, that Simon looked up in confusion. "And you ten?" he asked, looking at the group of newcomers.

They all shrugged. The one at the front walked forward, hands in his pockets. "We don't have one of those," he pointed to the device in Tai's hand.

Simon frowned at this. "Well this just won't do," he contorted. "All the chips must be taken. That way I can access all the locations in proximity," he explained.

"What's the big deal?" another young man behind the first one spoke up. He was blond in color with glowing blue eyes. "It's not like we'll need all of them. Like uh- Izzy said. We can just stay close together or whatever," he talked in a laid-back manner.

Simon only shook his head. "No, this won't do. It's important for them all to be taken," he pressed. "They need to, they need to," he began to contort again.

Tai, who placed a hand on his shoulder, offered him some advice. "Hey, whoa calm down," he soothed. "We'll take them," he chuckled, though clearly disturbed.

The man must've noticed their weird expressions, and upon noting it, he stood erect, trying to force a smile. "I apologize for my behavior," he expressed. "I've just been here for so long, and I think may be sort of losing it to admit," he chuckled nervously.

He smiled back at him. "No worries. But uh, next time, lay off on the heavy breathing and the melodramatics," he advised. "It just makes you see desperate."

Simon nodded. "Thank you and I'll be sure to do that," he forcibly agreed.

Tai smiled. "Great." After taking the other chips from his hands, he then turned his attention back to the door. "So uh, I guess we'll be going through there," he uttered.

Those standing behind them made affirming noises. "It's kind of weird," Kari expressed.

T.K., who's standing beside her, looked to her. 'What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "Everything. How fast it's moving. Not just here where we were kidnapped and then we end up finding the door smack at the beginning, but also in the digital world. We almost never get a chance to hear full explanations or anything. Almost like everyone wants us to go to the final plane already," she whispered the last part so Simon couldn't hear. She had her suspicions about the man, but she unfortunately didn't have anything to go by yet. She made a mental note to keep him in observation throughout their journey.

Takeru only nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Tai spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention. "It's time for us to say good-bye to this world," he proclaimed. He turned to look at Simon. "I know we just met, and maybe not under the most normal of circumstances, but I want to thank you. Without you, we'd be struggling to look for this door. I can only imagine how impossible that would have been," he expressed.

The other man smiled back. "Well I do have my resources, which in reality, are the ones who deserve all the credit," he tactfully disparaged.

Tai nodded, before turning to look back at the door. He did exactly as Ophanimon had told him before he left the Digital World. He held the symbol close to the door. At first this seemed to cause no reaction, but after several minutes, they all began to hear a strange sound coming from the ancient-looking slate.

They all watched as the door came to life, the images inside it moving. It made them jaw-drop in awe, as it formed the solar system, the planets rotating in an elliptical basis, much like real life. It wasn't until they all aligned, that the door opened, revealing the same purplish hue from the others. It was a portal.

Upon recognizing it, Tai stepped forward, fearless. He turned to look at Simon once more, grinning while holding out the extra chips. "We'll find a way to put these somewhere safe," he assured. He turned to look towards the large monitor. "And be sure to keep track of us for when we'll need your help," he added.

Simon nodded, watching as entered through the convoluting mass. He smiled secretly, as each of the others followed suite quickly.

Matt, who was the last of the original eight to enter through, noticed his smile, almost noting a sense of something else behind it. Something more sinister. He watched as the man waved, him ignoring it. He could feel something in his gut telling him to not trust the man. He wanted to listen, but in that moment all his friends had gone through, and he didn't want to let them down. Instead, he smiled, before turning to enter though it.

Following after him, were the ten newcomers, each smiling at Simon before entering. When lastly, Amora and Lucas remained, did Simon stop, but only at the direct comment held by an icy-tone.

"You don't have to keep pretending," Amora suggested, standing a few feet away from the man.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked, turning to look at her. He noticed only her and another one, a young man were the only ones left within the room.

She rolled her eyes. "This act you've been trying to keep up from the beginning. The whole, I can't remember, I don't know what I'm doing, trying to be polite about everything. I can see right through it."

He grew shocked at her sharp perception, though he wanted to keep pretending. "I don't know what you mean?" he lied.

She smirked at him. "Don't worry whatever it is you're scheming, it's obviously working." She sauntered her way to him. "But I'll tell you this," she whispered, barely in earshot. She was standing close to him now. "If you double-cross me in any way, I will find you personally," she threatened, before placing a smile in her face. "It may seem like I'm just tagging along with all these charades of Digital World and dimensional planes, but don't be fooled. I know more than I let on, and you'd be wise to remember that," she added. With that, she cat-walked her way to the portal, turning forty-five degrees to look at him. "I only hope for your sake, that the others don't find out," she sniped, before walking through, allowing him no time to think of a comeback.

He only watched as she made her way in, leaving behind a man who resembled her very well in appearance, though more masculine. The young man seemed to be looking elsewhere, not at him nor' the portal. He took this a chance to walk forward and engage him. "You going?" he asked.

The young man, who seemed to be in a trance snapped out of it, looking at him intently.

"It won't be long before the portal closes. You may want to go before it does," he stated.

The young man, whose expression remained indifferent, nodded. "It won't work," he spoke aloud.

This caused Simon to look at him in confusion. What?" he questioned.

Lucas looked at him. "Your plan. It's going to backfire. Your actions will lead to an even greater scale of proportions," he warned. "One's that are irreversible once started."

Simon looked at him with a disgruntled expression. "And you would know this how?' he asked, though clearly surprised at his perception much like the girl before him.

Lucas pressed his cheeks together using his lips. "You'll soon find out," was all he said, before making his way over to the portal, which was on the verge of shrinking now. He turned to look at the man one last time. "Good-bye Mr. Dawson, I hope we can meet again," he stated, before entering the portal.

Simon, surprised by his last comment, attempted to stop him now but failed miserably as the portal vanished before he got near the door. He slammed a fist against the metallic panel, a few breathes coming out in anger. "How the hell," he muttered. He slammed another fist. "How the hell did he know my real name?" At this he began to laugh hysterically, causing his men to return and hold him up. He fought them, inssiting that they let go. It was after her threatened them that they backed off, though he remained with a smile on his face.

"It seems I may have underestimated a few of the Digidestined," he spoke aloud, another laugh coming in. He was on his knees now. "I'll have to pay close attention to some of them, if I ever hope to win this game," he professed. "The crown shall be mine," he uttered, laughing hysterically again. "Soon… soon," he laughed.

The room darkened, a mist forming over the room as the laughs of a madman filled the room with echoes. Echoes that snared the room with cries of desperation, wickedness and ominous sensations. Just who was Simon Price?

* * *

**Hm... what to put here? Well for one, thanks everyone who had been currently reading this through. I haven't really included the newcomers (I call them that until they official get their new name). I'll be sure to focus on them soon. Also, for anyone wondering why the Tamers, Savers and Warriors have not appeared yet. They will extremely soon. their failure to show will only add to the stories main plotline. So yeah. There it is. please review, as it helps build this story for more people to read it. Thanks.**


	5. Chapter V: Mazzaroth's Row

**Hm... not even one break in this. Ah well. Okay this one is really short, only because I needed to get them from point A to point B without making it seem like I rushed. Which, I hope it doesn't seem that way. Aha. Well, okay. Here's the story. Hope you may like it and whatever else.**

**Disclaimer: Yes I do own Digimon, shocker! I just bought the rights to create my own season, and I... wow does that sound fake or what? No, I'm kidding. I do NOT own Digimon or anything real about it. I do own the fake stuff though. That is, the stuff created by me. Hehe. Yeah...**

* * *

The portal gurgled as they all went through, one appearing after the other. It wasn't until the final member entered that it vanished once more, leaving no trace behind.

The room itself was black, a narrow-light walkway being the only visible ground beneath them. All the members walked forward, stepping away from the endless black that caused a void from the southern, eastern and western ends.

Tai, who had been the first to enter, now looked at another slate door located directly north. This one was covered in the same symbol as the previous one, only it had a key slot located at the center. He looked at it for a moment before taking out the digital card given to him by Ophanimon. He turned for the others acknowledgements. "You guys ready?' he asked.

Izzy, who seemed reluctant, walked to the front. "Tai wait," he commanded.

The brown-haired teen looked at him with a confused expression.

He shook his head. "Don't you see the images around us?" Izzy stated for them all to look. They all turned, some gasping, finally noticing that the area wasn't as black as they thought. In fact, the area around them depicted the eighty-eight constellations, along with a cluster of others shapeless stars, all in a band forming an elliptical basis.

"What are they?" Mimi asked, with her mouth agape.

"They're constellations," Izzy replied. He pointed towards one of the groups, which had been careened with lines, forming the shape of a keel. "You see. That's Carina. It's supposed to be a keel."

"Wait, these are all constellations from our world?" Tai asked.

"It's not just the constellations," Victoria stepped up, standing between Izzy and Tai. "Look," she gestured towards the area behind him. He turned, awing. "It's also the Solar System."

True to her words, they all awed as the Solar System began to emerge from the empty darkness. It wasn't too long before the entire void was painted with moving images of the entire celestial axis, including the constellations which were shaped by white lines.

"Where are we?" Kari and T.K. asked, while both backed up before bumping into each other. They turned, slightly blushing. "Sorry," Kari was the first to apologize. She had her hand to her mouth.

He wanted to say something back, but Izzy managed to override his voice.

"I believe this may be Mazzaroth's Row," he stated.

"Mazzaroth's Row?" Sora asked.

"You mean the one that angel-digimon told us back in the other world?" October asked. She stood by Victoria and Izzy now.

Izzy nodded. "It has to be. The door is there," he pointed directly ahead. "It's the only plausible conclusion."

"Well if this is Mazzaroth's Row, how come we had to go through another door before finding this one?" Tai asked suspiciously. He walked towards his friend, standing a few feet taller than him. "I mean it doesn't make sense. Ophanimon said that we'd find the door within the fifth dimension, and yet we had to go through Simon's door before entering this one."

Izzy, who now placed a hand to his chin, began to think. "You may be right," he stated after several seconds passed. "I did find it strange that there was no key-card located in the other door we entered through. Perhaps we missed something?"

"Who the hell cares?" Jason shouted from behind them. They all turned to look at him. "We found the damn door, and this is Mazzaroth's whatever you call it. The hell does it matter what happened in-between?"

Tai smirked at him. Indeed he was like Ophanimon described. "Jason's right," he spoke aloud. He turned towards his friend. "Izzy, we can figure this out later, but for now let's just go through."

Izzy nodded, though reluctantly. "I suppose we can," he affirmed.

"Suppose?" Tai questioned.

He nodded. "Well, I can't help but feel like we missed something," Izzy cautioned. "Something important."

"Important?" October asked. She stood by him, standing at his height.

He nodded again. "Don't you all think this is strange? The way we found the door so quickly and not too mention with relatively no difficulty."

"I wouldn't necessarily call getting kidnapped, not difficult," Matt remarked.

Izzy smirked at him. "Well besides that." He looked to the ground, cupping his chin again. "I wonder…."

Jason, who had grown impatient, walked forward, nudging Izzy in the back. It caused him to turn, blinking. "Hey, you- uh—,"

"You?" Izzy queried. "I'm no you."

Jason made a sheepish grin. "Whatever your name is. We going yet or?"

Izzy looked like he was ready to say something, but stopped, when he saw Tai give him a "Let it go" look from the corner of his eye. Instead he sighed. "Yeah, I suppose," he stated with reluctance. "What was your name again?" he asked right afterwards.

The auburn-haired young man smirked again. "Jason… not like it matters or anything. Let's just go." Not giving him a chance to respond, Jason made his way over to Tai. "Tai was it?" he questioned the former bushy-haired man.

He nodded back.

"You got that thing that one creature gave you?"

Tai looked at him, astonished. "Creature?" he questioned with a bit of sharpness in his tone. "You mean Ophanimon?"

The guy nodded. "Whatever you guys like to call it… err, her," he quickly restated.

Tai, who was now fuming on the inside, let out a long sigh. He knew reprimanding Jason here and now would not be the best idea. That and considering the warning Ophanimon gave him a while back, when his team returned to the Digital World.

"So you have it?" Jason continued, oblivious to his sudden mood.

Tai nodded. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a shining blue card, streams of data flowing through it. "Right here," he flashed the card in front of him.

"Great, now we can get going," Jason remarked, walking towards the second door.

Tai eyed him as he walked forward, his expression in a questioning manner. "Jason sure didn't act like he cared enough to be here, and yet he is the first to want to go through to the digital world," he thought. Something he'd have to question him about later. Then though, he quickly made his way to the door, eyeing the open slot in the middle of the large slate. Indeed the same symbol was engraved on the door. Noticing this, he pulled out the medallion, as per Ophanimon's instructions.

"You need that again?" Jason, who stood by him, asked.

Tai nodded. "Once I put in the card, I have to place this near the door to activate it," he stated, while holding the medallion out. Following his words truly, he quickly placed the card in the slot, raising the medallion overhead. It wasn't too long before the door, like the one before, began to move, causing them both to take a few steps back.

"Look at the stars?" Mimi remarked, alluding to the back ground all around them.

They all turned, awing as the constellations began to shift. The solar system, which was depicted in the background, began to move, the planets rotating, aligning perfectly before the jet-woven door. A large flash of light shined through the planets, shooting straight towards the ebony-slate.

"Look," Victoria pointed to the interior's ceiling.

They all looked up, watching as a circle of twelve constellations descended down elegantly, wide-spreading to all directions, forming a perfect 360* elliptical band around them.

"If I'm not mistaken, these are—,"

"The signs of the Zodiac," Izzy remarked, interrupting Victoria.

They all awed, again watching as the constellations formed a perfect union. They began to circle them, spinning rapidly, almost like a chant before a fire. Large noises began to echo throughout the abysmal room, sending chills down all their spines.

"What's it saying?" Victoria barked over the loud noise.

Izzy shrugged. "I don't know," he shouted back.

The twelve constellations, which had now minimized above their heads, kept in a perfect union as they formed into tiny spheres, each with a distinctive color. They each quickly shot towards the ebony-slate, inserting themselves in the newly formed holes etched deep within the door.

"It's opening," Tai remarked, stating the obvious. True to his words, the door began to move, shaking the entire room as it disappeared behind the black void that was to its left. Several seconds later, and all the Digidestined were now looking at the anterior of the light shining through the door. They covered their eyes as the bright light shined.

"So this is it?" Matt asked, standing by his best friend. The light had died down now.

Tai looked at him, nodding. "No turning back now."

Matt smirked. 'Wouldn't even think of it," he slyly remarked.

His best friend shook his head, standing ahead of them all. He looked to his right, noticing Jason do the same. This astonished him again. "Just like Ophanimon said," he thought. He shook his head, smiling at him, before turning towards his friends. "You guys ready?" he asked.

They all nodded back, the wiser of them preparing themselves.

He smiled. "Great." He turned towards the door, ready to enter through it. "Cause' we're going to have to be," he remarked, before stepping through the door. Unlike its predecessor, this one wasn't a portal per se, but rather a gate that led from one world to another in an instantaneous manner.

Following their leader's actions, the higher Digidestined walked forward. They stopped before it, some swallowing nervously. This was the last time they would have a chance to turn back and return to the real world. The last time they would be given a rest, since they didn't know what to expect on the other side. They all looked at each other, and Matt catching it first questioned the red-haired individual standing by him and Sora. "You okay Izzy?" he asked with concern.

The red-head, who was lost in thought, looked up blinking. "Wha?"

"You okay," the blond asked again.

He blushed. "Yeah, no, yeah I'm great," he replied, waving his hands out nervously.

He looked at him suspiciously. "You sure. Cause' you face didn't look so good just now."

Izzy grew pale, though he tried his best to hide it. "Yeah Matt. Everything's okay. I just uh-," he looked around, trying to think of something to say. "I'm just nervous," he lied, rubbing the back of his head to reaffirm his statement.

"Nervous?" his friend chuckled.

Izzy, who was a little astonished by Matt's sudden insight and persistence, tried to find something to answer his question. Luckily for him, someone else took the reigns from there.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Victoria asked. She walked forward, interrupting their conversation. "I mean, your friend just went through. Who knows what could be waiting for him on the other side, and not too mention that his friends won't be there by his side if, Lord forbid, something happened to him," she slyly remarked.

At this, Matt seemed to think on it, before reluctantly giving in. "You're right," he quickly shot, before turning and running towards the door. Sora followed him quickly, along with Mimi and Joe, leaving T.K., Kari and Izzy behind along with all the newcomers.

Izzy mouthed a "thank you" to Victoria. This caused her to blush, and him being analytical by nature, picked this up but decided to say nothing on the matter.

She on the other hand, extended a hand nervously, pointing it towards the door. "Well, I uh- better get going," she stated quickly. "Wouldn't want to keep your friends waiting." With that, she stepped through the door, not giving him another chance to reply.

He sighed.

"Don't worry about Vicky," a girl behind him stated.

Shocked by the sudden remark, her turned quickly, his face flustered. "Huh?' was all that came out if his mouth, preceded by a few "ah's and uh's".

The red-haired girl only smiled, a small hand lifted towards her mouth. "You're funny," she remarked. "I like that."

A man walked beside her, stopping to hold her in his hand. "C'mon Arisa, let's get going. Victoria already went through," he reminded her, grabbing her hand, nudging her towards his direction.

Izzy took this as a hint to back up a little.

"Ah, okay," the red-haired responded in a slight whiny voice. She turned towards Izzy, smiling again. "Well it seems Liam here is impatient," she pointed to the young man standing by her. "I guess this means good-bye for now," she strangely remarked, as if they wouldn't be seeing each other for a while.

She waved him a good-bye followed by a, what he thought, soft blow of some kind. He blushed slightly, watching as both green-eyed teens walked towards the door, disappearing behind the white light.

"Don't worry too much about Arisa," another girl walked forward startling him slightly. After the last one, he wasn't up to be shocked again.

"Wha?" he asked.

The brown-haired girl only chuckled, by her stood Jason.

"October right?" Izzy asked.

She nodded. "And don't forget it," she joked, smiling again. 'Well I guess I'll see you on the other side," she pointed towards the lighted opening. "C'mon Jason," she nudged the young man beside her. "Everyone's already gotten through."

With that, Izzy watched as the both made their way towards the door. The day just kept getting stranger and stranger. Although October was right about one thing, he would have to get use to their names, and not too mention, distinguishing who was who. Familiar faces were what he had a knack for, but all the newcomers seemed to be of a different ethnicity, though they all spoke Japanese just fine. A mental note he made to ask them about later.

"Hey, Izzy," T.K. shouted aloud, interrupting him from his thoughts.

Izzy spun around, eyeing the blue-eyed kid, who resembled his brother in some aspects. "Not so loud," he whined, pretending to have had his ear damaged, as he was rubbing it.

The blond smirked. "We're going through," he pointed towards the small group behind him, which consisted of Kari and two other newcomers.

Izzy turned to look at him again. "Their names, uh-,"

"Serena and Trevor." T.K. replied. He patted Izzy on the shoulder, before the red-head could reply. "Don't get left behind," he advised. With that, he waved him a hand in the air, before motioning for the others to follow him.

Izzy watched as they made their way towards the door, and like all the others, fading through the light. He and three others were the last ones, though he noticed one f them walking up to him.

"Hey," the dusty-haired young man greeted. "I noticed you talking to all the others so I guess it's my turn," he explained, extending a hand.

Izzy took it, shaking it.

"The name's Aaron, although you probably remember me," he quickly shot, flashing a set of white teeth at him.

Izzy smiled back. "How could I forget," he lied. With that, the brown haired young-man stopped shaking his hand, heading towards the door.

"I'll be seeing you Izzy," he shouted to him, before disappearing behind the door.

Now he really felt bad. The man remembered his name, yet only just recalled his. He really did have to try harder in remembering who was who. "But with all the Digidestined, and the—," his thoughts were interrupted when a girl walked up to him, her stare almost icy, from what he noticed.

She looked at him, her stare indifferent.

"You're Amora?" he queried, though he knew that to be true.

She remained still, not even nodding, just looking at him. He thought she could see past his body and right into his soul, though he kept his expression straight. "Um… I only remembered your name because you and the other… one," he looked towards Lucas direction. "Are always last," he tried to explain, though his voice became low and soft at the end.

She only narrowed her eyes. "No, you remembered my name because you see me as a threat, if not, someone who shouldn't be taken lightly," she rectified his explanation.

He grew shocked, a few shivers going up and down his spine. He tried to gulp, but he felt she would notice it. She noticed everything else about him point-and-blank. "That's not true," he stated nervously, lying through his teeth.

She smiled, though a more sinister one. "Don't worry about it," she coldly remarked. "I could care less what you think of me. But next time, just try to be more honest about who you're being. It makes you look less snobby and more real," she bluntly advised. With that, she made her way towards the opening.

He watched as she made her way to the door, following the same manner as all the others. He knew she would be icy in nature by the way Ophanimon described her, but he never thought she would be so calculating and not to mention, perceptible and intuitive. Something he had to watch out for. Following everyone else's motions, he noticed the last of them coming towards him.

"I guess we're the last ones," a young man remarked beside him.

Izzy turned to look at him, though he kept eyeing the door. "No kidding," he tried to joke, mostly to take away his tension from his previous conversation. The blond kept his expression in a rigid manner, almost indifferent like Amora, from what he noticed. He chuckled, slightly clearing his throat. "Lucas, is it?"

The blond nodded, before looking towards the door.

Izzy thought he was going to head for the door, but instead he kept his body idle, just staring at the light.

"You know, it's not good to ponder," Lucas remarked.

Izzy, blinked. "Hm?" was all he could think to say to the sudden remark.

The blond turned to him. "What you were thinking of earlier. The mystery behind this door and the other. It won't make a difference. Knowing the truth."

Izzy furrowed his eyebrows. "And what makes you sat that?" he asked, though taken aback by his perception. He really was like Amora.

The blond smiled. "Nothing," he simply stated. "Just giving some advice. One friend to another," he remarked.

Izzy, who was a bit frustrated with his attitude, scoffed slightly. "Well, if you know so much hotshot, why not tell me what's going on?" He admitted, he never liked getting angry, but Lucas was really pushing his buttons. Who was he to give him advice, when he didn't know a thing about the Digital World, and not to mention, anything else that was going on.

Lucas chuckled. "You're right," he assured. "I don't know anything. Which, is why I tell you not to worry about it. Because you don't either."

Izzy kept his gaze steady. "But that's the point of knowledge. To know about something. To figure it out and ascertain the problem. To solve it," he tried to clarify.

The blond kept his face rigid, though his eyes grew distant. Again he looked towards the door, its light pouring in. "But in the end, knowledge can corrupt."

The red-head looked at him astonished. "How so?" he vindictively fought back.

The blond shook his head, looking down at the ground in disapproval. This only made Izzy madder. "Let me ask you something?" Lucas asked, gauging him from his mood.

Izzy didn't bother to answer, but this didn't stop Lucas from continuing.

"What do you hope to obtain from knowing something? Isn't the reason we hide things from others to keep them from knowing in the first place?"

"Well sure," Izzy sharply replied. "But knowing isn't bad. People hide things from others because they want to keep secrets. And usually, these secrets are bad. Sometimes they're so bad, that the person keeping them doesn't even know that it is," he replied.

Lucas chuckled again. "Ah, so you're saying all secrets are bad then?" he epitomized.

Izzy waved his hands forward. "That's not what I said," he tried to counter.

"You didn't have to. It's simple really. Either secrets are good or bad. Either people are good or bad, inherently evil or genuinely pure. It's all about perception."

"But it doesn't have to be black and white," Izzy tried to counter again. Lucas was really testing his intellect. Who was this guy, someone he barely knew to philosophize on others, act as a judge.

"Don't take it the wrong way," Lucas reprimanded. "It's not like I'm some consort or judge. Sometimes I find my own logic dangerous, but nonetheless, haven't you ever wondered why things are the way they are? Why things have to be a certain way?"

"That's too deep," Izzy remarked quickly.

Lucas chuckled again. "Perhaps," he replied, kicking the lighted path with the tip of his foot. He was looking down now, though his gaze seemed to soften. "But that doesn't change the truth. And maybe that's why people are so afraid of bringing things into light. Because it's too "deep" as you say. Too unfamiliar," he paused, looking at Izzy now. "Too real," he philosophized.

Izzy looked ready to say something, but could think of nothing.

"That's why Amora is the way she is," Lucas continued. "Because she knows that in the end, the truth is what is most important. Nothing hidden, nothing black. You say life isn't black and white, but yet we all act like it. We can never truly be good and evil at the same time. Imagine if someone tried to be that way. How would they be?" he questioned his own thoughts.

Izzy kept his gaze steady, his eyes narrowing. "Now it's my turn to ask you something?" he queried.

Lucas turned, his expression distant, yet bored.

"Why did you come? Let me rephrase that. Why do you want to come? To the fifth plane? I mean, you had a chance to stay in your world when Simon offered for us to go. You could've just run away, turned back. You still can," he retorted.

The blond scoffed slightly, smirking. He turned towards him, and Izzy could feel a sense of reluctance in his face, but with something else. Despair? Suffering?

"Sometimes knowing will hurt," Lucas replied. "And it causes you to do things you don't want to." With that, he began to move towards the lighted door, but not before turning to answer his question. "Running away isn't going to solve the problem Izzy. It's only going to push it back further, until one day it fades away— everything I mean. For that is nature of such things. For all things sooner or later turn to nothing."

Izzy watched as he made his way towards the door, disappearing behind it. He couldn't help but feel a strangeness inside himself. "What do you mean by that Lucas?" he asked aloud. "All things turn to nothing?" He looked towards the empty space around him, noting the constellations as they continue to shine. "Life isn't all black and white." He tried to reassure himself. He shook his head, looking down at the ground. "It can't be. Because if it is, what does that make us?" He could feel his heart pulse back and forth, his nerves tensing. "What does that make me?" He could feel himself fight back a tear, shaking his head. This wasn't the time to be thinking of that. "I can't," he cried aloud. "The Digital World needs me. My friends need me." Convincing himself of that, he slowly trudged towards the lighted door, holding on to its edges. "And I won't let them down," he remarked, before disappearing behind the door.

The door, which shimmered bright, began to die down, the constellations fading away along with the solar system. The room quickly began to dim, until all that was left was an empty darkness; a void which eclipsed all the light, swallowing it until it was no more.

* * *

**Okay, if some people wonder why some parts seem a little weird, it's because sometimes I pause my writing and continue the next day or whatever and honestly I forget what mood or scene I'm trying to set at the moment. I do have an outline, it's just not extremely, descriptively extensive, so I have to rely on memory alone. Well, as you can see, my writing reflects that. I'm just too busy with school work and other stuff to take many hours to write, let alone, consecutive days. Anyway, please, please, please... oh did I say please? No, well again, PLEASE review. Would be ncie to have like 700 reviews, but ah, I can only dream ahah. Anyway, thanks!**


	6. Chapter VI: Into the Fifth Plane

**Oh my gosh, my eyes are bugging out. Literally, they're so sleepy. I'm rubbing my eyes as I type this. I'm tired. I managed to finish this chapter, and to be honest, this will probably be the last pure explanation chapter. The group is already in the Digital World, no more talking, and other blah-blah-blah. Time for some action, no really. Well, anyway, I hope I explained things well, and kept most things linear. **

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Digimon. Maybe perhaps, one day I will. You know. The same day I become a doctor/astronaut/chef/business owner/realtor/many other things, all in one. Yep...**

* * *

Seraphimon walked towards the vacant hall, his bright light illuminating the dense darkness that surrounded the vast walls of the castle. A streak of the moon's light shined down from the crevice of a nearby window high atop. Behind him stood two other digimon, both standing firmly, watching as he pulled out a sphere, laying it on an empty space.

"Everything will change after this," Ophanimon warned him. She moved to his right, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Is this really something we want to do?"

The blue angel turned, nodding reluctantly. "We have to do this." He faced the wall, preparing the sphere by shining a bright light over it, activating it. The sphere began to rotate, causing the wall to break in two, revealing a secret passageway. He paused on his way in. "Everyone will need to see the truth somehow. All the worlds. It's time they knew of our existence."

"But the first generation know of us already, and their descendants," Cherubimon argued. He moved to stand before Seraphimon, eyeing him down. "The Tamers, their world created the first systems."

Seraphimon grimaced, holding his head down. "But it won't change anything. Without their world… without our world connected, we can never hope to recover what was lost," he argued back.

"But there has to be another way," Cherubimon protested. "We'll find one."

"Cherubimon's right," Ophanimon argued. She moved towards Cherubimon's side, standing firmly on the ground. "There has to be another way. If the humans find out about us, we can face—,"

"The humans know of us already," Seraphimon retorted. This threw them back, their expressions shocked. He sighed. "You both know as much as I, that this has to be done. Why argue with me about this now? After everything that will happen. We can't turn back. It's too late."

"But there has to be another way. The Zero Network. It hasn't begun. We can still change our destiny. The digital world's destiny. We just have to—,"

"No Ophanimon," Cherubimon called her name, his deep voice sounding soft, yet sorrowful. "Seraphimon is right. Without this, our worlds cannot be connected." He sighed. He wanted it to be different, but seeing the entire situation, it seemed hopeless. "Even if it means running the risk of deletion, we have to try."

"But the Zero Network," Ophanimon gasped. Her face grew reluctant. "Its power is growing. If we connect the worlds we run the risk of not only deleting our world, but the humans as well. Do we want—,"

"I know," Seraphimon shouted. This shocked her, and he noticed it. He moved his hand to his head, sighing again, before placing it to his side. "But what choice do we have Ophanimon? The humans will need us soon, and without this, there's no hope for either them or us," he warned. "Neither way is safe, but we have to take our chances."

Ophanimon gazed with resentment, but unable to say anything.

"Please Ophanimon," Cherubimon interceded, turning to face her. "I want this no more than you, but we have no choice. The humans are already in the fifth plane, my scanners tell me. It's inevitable this was to happen," he closed his eyes, "as much as I did not want it to."

"But…," she stopped, her expression in frown. She closed her eyes to think. Though she knew turning on the world sphere was a risky move, she also knew they had no other way of connecting the worlds. No other way of charging the Omega System, and ultimately, stopping the spread of the Zero Network. She sighed, opening her eyes again, staring back at the two faces she has known for so many years now. Faces she did not want to fade. "Okay," she nodded reluctantly. She could feel a quiver in her tone, and so straightened her pose to stand tall. "I may not agree with this, but you are right," she turned to Seraphimon. "Running and hiding won't change our fate. I know the risks involved," she exhaled deeply, "but I also know that as a Celestial Guardian of the Digital World, it is my duty to serve and protect our home. Even if it means putting it and the human worlds at risk."

"So then you'll join us?" Cherubimon asked.

She turned to face him, smiling with a hard expression. "As I always have."

"Then we have no time to lose," Seraphimon intercepted. He walked forward, not bothering to turn around for his second statement. "The humans have entered the fifth plane. By now they should be waking up, and I want to make sure we'll be there for them when they do." With that, they all quickly made their way down the secret narrow passageway, until finally coming to the interior of it, which consisted of a large chamber room, and a strange contraption at the center shaped to fit something spherical inside.

"_Mundum Sphaera_. How long since we've last been here?" Ophanimon remarked upon entering the strange chamber.

Seraphimon smirked at her. "Too long if you ask me." He quickly made his way over to the central area, the others following suite. He pulled out the same sphere he used to open the passageway further back, eyeing it carefully as if it was something knew to him.

"This is it," Ophanimon remarked, eyeing the sphere in his hands. "After this, we'll have to prepare for the worst."

The blue angel turned, acknowledging her comment.

"We have to be careful nevertheless," Cherubimon warned. He floated towards them, his great bulk stopping beside them. He placed a giant hand on one of the three panels laid out at the front of the spherical machine. "We can't afford to let even a slip of data get out of the network. Who knows what damage it can do?"

Seraphimon nodded in agreement. He and Ophanimon placed their hands on the other two separate panels, his other hand holding the sphere still. He exhaled deeply, eyeing his equals. "Are we ready?"

They both nodded reluctantly, but with affirm. Although they still held contradicting feelings, they both knew this had to be done. They could tell Seraphimon felt the same. He tried his best not to show it though.

"Okay then," Seraphimon said. "It's time to begin the World Sphere." He inserted the strange sphere into a circle shaped slot within the machine's opening. A few sparks began to shoot out of the machine, before it whirred to life. The top of the contraption, which consisted of four elliptical arms, began to rotate forming seven large circles. Each expanded; revealing different sets of worlds, though five looked similar in appearance.

"It's the human's worlds," Cherubimon remarked. "They will soon see ours and…," his voice trailed as a shot of light beamed through the anterior of the machine, blinding them all for a second. It wasn't too long before they all looked back, noting as seven different lights shot out towards the sky, each colored differently.

They awed in amazement as the sky began to form dense clouds where the light loomed, creating a projectile of the entire world, as if the world was looking at itself through a mirror.

"Keep your hands steady," Seraphimon reminded them. "The sphere still has to project the other worlds."

They both turned, nodding, while keeping theirs hands on the scanners. The white light underneath moved back and forth, reacting to their power.

Up in the sky, where the Digital World loomed, a set of six other worlds began to appear, each growing rapidly until they took up as much space as the first in the sky.

Ophanimon, who would have furrowed her eyebrows if she any, turned to face Seraphimon with confusion. "I don't understand. I thought the humans would only see the fifth plane?"

"They will," Seraphimon replied. "Only in our world are we presented with all the faces. Though we choose what the others see." He pointed with his head to the control area. "Over there is where we setup the program once we have initiated the power system."

Ophanimon nodded in acknowledgement. "So then the humans will only see the final plane?"

Seraphimon nodded with reluctance. "I'm afraid not." He looked up to see the sphere's formations coming to an end. He pulled his hand away, indicating that the entire system was fully powered now. "If what Ebonwumon said was correct, then the humans will be able to see our world in the process." He walked over to the control system, beginning to input the proper sequences to set the program to their desired effects.

"Then that means…," Ophanimon's voice trailed.

"It's as we feared…," Cherubimon chimed.

Seraphimon nodded, finishing for them. "The fifth and final plane was truly once a part of the Digital World." With that they all looked back up at the sky, each of their faces grim at the new reality they faced. Here they were initializing the very power that could destroy them all, but all the more, be their last salvation.

* * *

**Digi-break**: Yes, another break. It's been what, two chapters since the last one? Glad I could have this space, although I don't know what to say in it. I suppose explaining what the Zero Network is exactly, but ah, that might create a few spoilers. Okay then, I'll explain the World Sphere in brief. Basically it's a spherical machine, which projects whatever the operator wants to project to the world, including through dimensions. With this, they'll be able to display the fifth plane and the Digital World to the human's worlds, so they can all see what's going on. Ultimately, I have a purpose for this, but I'll keep that in the waiting for now. So yeah… Oh, by the way, the sphere thingy is relatively new to the Digital World, only discovered after the season's canons.

* * *

"Oh, my head," a young man groaned. He was holding onto the temple of his head, cradling it betweens his hands. The dusty-brown peeped out from the sides of his fingers.

"You guys okay?" another voice shouted from behind him.

He turned to see who it was, surprised to see the others with him. Only…

"Hey, where are the others?" October, who he recognized, asked.

"What others?" Trevor, who stood by her, asked, eyeing the ten people in their group. Some were standing, while the others were still lying on the ground.

Aaron, who had finally stopped cradling his head, looked around as did the others, their expressions in confusion. "Tai and the others?" he spoke aloud. He stood up by his knees. "They're gone?"

"It seems they left us," Jason remarked. He patted the dust on his black leather jacket, trying to get if off before it ruined the material.

October, who seemed unconvinced, turned around, trying to find any sign that they were still around. Only her group's things were present. "I don't get it," she began, eyeing her surroundings, "they should have been here."

"Didn't you hear me?" Jason snarled. He walked to her, his eyes in flare. "They left us. Where else could they have gone?"

She shrugged. She knew Jason was hot-headed, especially when he was angry, but still. She placed a hand to her chin, trying to think.

"This is the Digital World, right?" Arisa asked, interrupting their pointless conversation. Her ruby-red hair shined in the sunlight. She brushed the bangs from her face, catching the eyes of a few the male-folk around her. She smirked at that, pretending like she wasn't seeing anything.

Aaron, oblivious to her beauty, raised a voice to express his opinion. "I think so," he replied to her question. "Only," he turned to look at his surroundings, "it seems this is a forest or something."

They all turned as he did analyzing the area they were in. The milieu encompassed a wide variety of shrubs and bushes, along with tall trees that swallowed most of the sun's light. It was clear they were in one of the few openings within the dense forest.

"Ugh, this stinks," Arisa whined, slumping down on her legs. She seemed exasperated by the situation. "We're lost, everyone's gone, and now we're left here in the dark, trying to figure out where we're at."

They all sighed, clearly in contempt as she.

"Well we can't just stand around," Liam remarked. He stepped closer to his friend, eyeing her down. "Arisa, come on," he gestured a hand for her to take. "Let's find our way out of here. It's almost night and the last thing I want is to stick around and find out what goes on in this place."

She smiled at him, though refusing to get up. She shooed his hand away. "I doubt we'll find a way."

He sighed, his eyes narrowing at her.

"She's right, though," Jason remarked. He now stood by Liam. "Once the sun goes down, who knows what will happen in this place." He turned, eyeing his surroundings once more. "But—," just as he was about to say more, a sound came from his pocket, catching his attention.

It must have come to the others as well, because soon they all looked down, eyeing their pockets as well, as a muffled sound stirred the air. They all reached inside, pulling out strange instruments. They continued to create the same muffling sound, a bit of static coming off of them.

"What the heck are these?" October questioned, turning the device in her hands. It was shaped in a rectangular form, a strap at the end coming out from the back. Three lines of pink extended from the top, shifting diagonally creating a helix with a rod coming through. She turned it, eyeing a symbol shaped like a heart at the back.

"I don't know, but they look like some type of phone or something," Trevor commented, stroking the lines in his device. Three slate-blue lines intertwined together, creating a series of three stars. He too turned the device around, while continuing to stroke the lines, until he made out the yin-yang symbol at the back.

"Hey, you guys, you hear that?" Victoria asked, holding her device close to her ears. She could hear the muffling but with something else.

"Yeah, it sounds like a voice," Aaron answered, holding the device sloe to his ears as well.

Victoria nodded to him, pulling the device away, peering at it. She could see two yellow lines parallel from each other, a third line coming down the middle. The two separate lines made out a right triangle, the hypotenuse facing away from the middle line. She turned her device, noting a strange looking symbol, which created two circles met by a curved line. She played with it, until she noticed a button at the side. She pressed it, which caused it to open, extending the device to all sides. At the left and right panels were buttons, at the top a screen and the bottom several slots. At the middle was another monitor. She gazed at the center screen, eyeing the static that convulsed it.

"How'd you do that?" Liam asked in a husky tone. He was peering at her phone, over her shoulder.

She jumped slightly, shocked by his presence. "Oh, shit. Don't do that," she cursed, glaring at him. She heard him apologize, but ignored it, grabbing the phone from his hand. She eyed it, noting a grim design on his. The print was black, but she was sure she could see a sickle-based item at the front. She turned it, finding another symbol. This one too was black, though she thought she could see a flower bud of some kind. "Look," she raised the device for him to see. "You see this right here. You have to pull it down."

He took it from her hands, doing as she said, and pressed the button, pulling it down while doing so. This caused the device to open, revealing the same interface as hers. He grinned. "Fancy."

She smirked at that. "I doubt it's anything past fancy. Just weird."

He shrugged. "Hey, Arisa, over here," he called his friend.

Victoria watched as she made her way to him, her face growing slightly dark.

"Hey, look what Vicky showed me," Liam commented, taking the device away from the ruby-headed girl. He stroked the green lines forming a rose-shaped flower with thorns. He then turned it noting the droplet-shaped symbol, before sliding the button down. It opened, like his and Victoria's. He then handed it back to the girl. "Pretty sweet, ey?"

She smiled, thought her eyes remained solemn. "It's like whatever. Nothing like my current phone," she remarked.

He quickly frowned, before scoffing. "Whatever."

"Hey, guys look," October shouted grabbing all of their attention. She had her hand raised, waving her device in the air. It was opened as well. They all gathered around her.

"What's up?" Trevor asked.

She slightly winced at that, but smiled at him. "This," she pointed to the screen. "I thought I saw that one angel-lady. The one back at the other… world," she finished.

"You mean Ophanimon?' Victoria questioned, indicating to her good memory.

October nodded.

"You sure about that?" Jason quickly asked. He was standing by her now, eyeing her with regard.

She nodded again. "Yeah. Her face was there for like two seconds and then it faded."

Jason leaned back, thinking on if for a while. He looked down at his own device, noting the red lines that met at the center, forming a crown shaped figure. "But I don't get it," he stated, turning the device around. His eyes wandered to the second symbol, this one shaped like a sun. He pressed the button, causing the device to open, revealing the same static-screen that the others had. He eyed the screen with attentiveness, his amber eyes turning into slits. "Why send us here, and then abandon us?"

Most of the others looked grim-faced now. They each looked at their own device, trying to figure out their situation. They were lost, that's for sure, the other "Digidestined" were gone, and now here they were with ten strange devices in their hands, and not knowing what to do next.

"I think that's why October saw the women, Ophanimon," Serena commented. They all shifted their focus to her. She paced her way to the middle of the small crowd. Her voice was soft and sensual, yet alluring. She held her closed device up, revealing a ting crescent, with a drop at the middle, before turning it, revealing a second symbol, this one shaped into several triangular spears forming a star-shaped cross. She pressed the middle, causing it to open. "I think she may be trying to communicate with us."

"Even if she does, that doesn't explain where these came from," Aaron spoke up. He was holding out his device now. Everyone saw the brown lines as they formed a shield-like picture with daggers extending out, before he turned it, revealing the second symbol shaped like a ray shooting down, before he pressed the switch.

Before anyone could answer, they began to hear a voice coming from his device… their devices, causing them to raise them.

"Chil- d- ren," a female voice spoke through the static of the screen. A picture of Ophanimon began to create itself through the static, though it fizzled here and there.

"Aha, so I was right," October praised with glee. Everyone looked at her, eyeing her down as a sign to be quiet. She made a face, before turning her attention back to her screen.

"I see you all made it to- th- e digi- tal world," she spoke again, her voice becoming more clear now.

Some of them nodded as if she were there.

"That's good news. It means that the fifth plane has accepted you all."

"Accepted?" Jason asked her. They all watched as her image became clearer, before becoming whole, no more static interfering with the connection.

"I trust you all have many questions by now," was all she said.

They nodded again.

She smirked through the screen. "Well then, its time I began answering some of them."

* * *

**Digi-break**: Trevor Royal… hmm… what to say about him. Well, Trevor is best friends with Jason and Aaron. He's the prudent one of them, his actions less volatile then Jason's, but more expressed than Aaron's. He's good at sports like Jason, but more humble in attitude. He's also very emotional, but tends to hide that side of himself, especially when around other males.

Trevor is a perfectionist by nature, and is very optimistic. He tends to have strong convictions, and usually stand by them no matter what… which can cause him to have an extremely stubborn attitude. He usually likes to think of the bigger picture, and likes to have fun. Luck tends to favor him, and because of it, he's built quite a knack for relying on it. Something that can bring him a world of trouble if he relies on it too much.

Trevor has golden-brown hair and blue eyes, which only adds to his "attractiveness". He prefers light clothing, and refuses to wear sneakers. Conversely, despite his friends, he gravitates towards the sciences, especially astronomy.

* * *

"I want you all to place your digivices on the floor forming a circle," Ophanimon instructed, after they all grew out of the initial shock.

"Digivices?" Aaron questioned, raising an eyebrow.

The green-angel nodded through the screen. "It's what they're called."

Aaron only nodded as if her explanation was enough. He, like the others, did as she said, placing his device next to another. It wasn't until all the devices were together, that beams of different colored light shout out from the devices, coming together to form an image at the center.

They awed, watching as the light created an image of Ophanimon, her three-dimensional figure turning to look at them as they crowded in front of her.

"Well, if I hadn't seen dimension crossing portals, strange creatures and an angel, I would never have believed what I am seeing now," Victoria remarked, her eyes blinking.

Ophanimon smiled, before turning serious. "Now where do I begin?"

"How about with where the heck are we?" Jason quickly asked, almost shouting.

Ophanimon eyed him, noting the person he was. "You are in the Digital World, but to be more specific, in Blackveil Waters."

"Waters?" he retorted, eyeing his surroundings in mockery. "I don't see no damn waters."

She grimaced at him, trying to keep a straight face, despite his attitude. He had good reason to be angry. She sighed. "Walk through the forest, a few minutes south, and you'll see the dark waters that make up this land."

"So why here then?" Victoria asked, as step ahead of most of them.

"You're very perceptive," Ophanimon praised. "Not many would quickly understand the situation, much less, acknowledge it."

She smiled at that.

'But to answer your question, I will have to explain further what will happen." She sighed, knowing what they will learn might shock their very core. "You all must know, firstly, before I explain anything, that there will be many dangers you will face. There are many strange creatures in the world you are in that I cannot explain for I have no knowledge on them. Now, to answer Victoria's question. The reason I have chosen Blackveil Waters is solely because it's the only location accessible through Mazzaroth's Row at the current moment."

"So you're basically saying we're lost?" Victoria questioned, indicating that the digimon had no mapping of the world they are currently in.

Ophanimon frowned. "I'm afraid so. But don't let that discourage you. You were all chosen, like the ones before you, without any prior warning of what was to happen. Still I'm proud that you have all stuck to the end, even though all of it may seem to confusing, if not, sudden."

Some of them shrugged, though Jason spoke up again. "Which brings this next question. Where are the others?"

Ophanimon sighed again. She raised her holographic hand to her head, pressing at her would-be temples, before placing it back to her side. "They are there with you, and they are not."

"Come again?" October remarked.

"You must understand, the fifth plane is disconnected to every other world, but one," Ophanimon explained. "Because of it, only certain beings can migrate to that system."

"You mean us?" Trevor asked.

Ophanimon nodded. "When Tai and his group came through the portal with you all, they were sent elsewhere. A place more remote."

"Meaning?" some asked in unison.

"It's a place formerly known as "The Omega System" but many in the digital world know it by its location name: the Kingdom of Naught."

"Kingdom of Naught?" Jason asked, almost trying to hold back a laugh at the cliché name. He had a raised eyebrow.

Ophanimon nodded, ignoring his snarky attitude. "It's a location not directly within the fifth plane, but rather, in a series of collective data. That is, the digital core, where most data is kept."

"But why there?" Why didn't they come with us?" Arisa asked. She laid down, her feet tried from standing.

"As I have said. They cannot come to this world. They're foreign bodies. Just as you cannot live in their world, they cannot live in yours."

"Let me guess, the fifth planes is connected to our world?" Jason commented.

She nodded. "Yes and no." She sighed, knowing that the conversation had to be shortened as time was running out for her feed. "All this will be explained later, but for now, I must disclose your mission."

They all nodded.

"As you may have noticed while with the other Digidestined, the digimon partners by theirs side." She waited for them to nod, before continuing. "Well, as it goes, you will NOT be getting any. Unfortunately we could not create any foreign body data that can transfer a digimon into the fifth plane," she clarified.

"So what will we bet getting instead?" Aaron asked, curious as to why they would even need digimon in the first place, though he had a good guess why that was.

"Nothing."

Most of them looked at her in confusion.

"Let me explain. You see, because of our inability to—,"

"Our?" October interrupted.

"Seraphimon, Cherubimon and I," Ophanimon explained quickly, before returning to her prior topic. "Because of our inability to form digivices that can harness the energy in the fifth plane, much less transfer digimon, we had to resort to whatever energy we could use. Hence why people were chosen from the fifth world. That and combined with our small knowledge of what exactly the fifth plane is made of, we had to use the only means we could to try and give you some form of power."

"Wait hold on, when did you give us this power?" Arisa asked in confusion.

"When you all first came to the digital world, you were asleep for many days. During that time, Seraphimon, Cherubimon and I imbued ten elemental properties within you all. These same properties formed, creating the digivices you see before you. We had instilled a hibernating mechanism that would allow the digivices to form only after you had all entered through the plane."

"Well that explains where they came from," Aaron remarked.

"There's more," Ophanimon countered. "Due to the fifth plane's rather… 'unique' makeup, we had no way of knowing what would happen to you all there. So we took a chance, and imbued something else within you all as well."

They all grew grim-faced, sensing something wrong in Ophanimon's tone. "Wh- what is it?" Victoria stuttered.

"A piece of something that we know fully belongs to the fifth realm. Despite you all being part of the fifth dimension, it isn't enough to support you within the plane's domain. At least, allow you to activate the spirits powers on your own."

"Spirits?" Trevor questioned.

"The elemental properties given to you all. They were once a part of the ultimate design that was the digital world, perhaps even at the beginning. Making it the perfect candidate for using in the fifth realm. But as I have explained, unfortunately its power alone cannot be activated where you all are, so we imbued something else inside you all."

"Which is?" most asked in unison.

"Data that once belonged to the digital core itself. Something known as the 'Catalyst'."

"Catalyst?' they again, asked in unison.

Ophanimon nodded. "The sovereigns, a band of five powerful digimon, first learned of it when a group of Digidestined called the Tamers helped them defeat an evil by the name of the D-Reaper, a deletion program itself within the matrix."

"So wait, what does this Catalyst do exactly?" Liam chimed in. His emerald eyes remained focused on Ophanimon, analyzing her facial expressions, despite the steel-clad helmet over most of her face.

"It's a rare form of sheer data, created by strange data called the Digi-gnome. It's called the catalyst because it augments the power of any data, almost fueling it to full potential. It was the best thing we could think to do to help you all."

"So does that mean we're all imbued with these elements and a 'catalyst'?" October summarized.

The green-angel digimon nodded. "Using the digivices you should all be able to harness their energies, allowing you defend yourselves in the fifth plane, as well protect your friends and allies."

"And how do we access this power exactly?" Jason asked, clearly interested.

Ophanimon frowned at that. "I'm afraid I have no answer for that. When we imbued all these properties within you all, we did it without any knowing what affects it might do to you all. For that I ask that you forgive us."

"Well sure, but if you don't know whether the damn things work, what use is that then?" Jason retorted.

She frowned again. "I don't have much time to explain. I must tell you the rest before I lose this connection."

"Your being timed?" Aaron asked, surprised.

She nodded again. "Other than the digivices, there is one more thing you all must know. When I disconnect, I want you all to type in the Kingdom of Naught on your devices. From there it should connect you to the location, allowing you to contact the other Digidestined. They should be able to guide you from there with what to do."

"You won't help us?" October asked, a worried tone in her voice.

"I'm afraid not. Already I am risking the activation of the Zero Network as we speak."

"Zero Network?" most asked in unison.

"Another time," she quickly dissuaded. Static began to form through the screen, causing everyone to panic. "I don't have much time left. Know this. They are watching. Everyone. All lives are depending on you now. Should you run into trouble, remember your family and friends. They will know where you are at. They will see you."

"What do you mean?" some asked in unison. Her voice was barely audible now.

"Find the –k k- dom. Us- and- you'll face-," Ophanimon's voice began to quickly fade, her image convulsing with static. "The Omeg- tem- will char- with the en- creat- and…," they group failed to hear the rest as Ophanimon's connection was quickly lost, leaving them all, or most of them at least, in a state of shock.

"Well this sucks," Trevor was the first to remark, after everyone had picked up their device again. "Hardly got a thing from her, and just when she was about to tell us our mission, she disconnects. Kind of sh—," he stopped himself short from cursing.

"What I'm wondering is what she meant by 'everyone will be watching'. Sounds creepy," Aaron remarked.

"Maybe she means that everyone will be with us in spirit," Arisa commented.

They all faced the ground, thinking.

"Ah, what good is it if we just stand around?" Jason shouted. "Let's just do what she said and call the others. No point in trying to figure out what she means by all the crap she finally decided to say at the end."

She sighed. Jason sure was blunt, but nonetheless, it was true what he said. It was better to move on then wallow over things you could not figure out, especially when you have a lead.

Jason opened his device again, eyeing the keypad. It was separated into two parts. Part of the alphabet in the left and the rest to the right. He did as Ophanimon instructed. He punched in the Kingdom of Naught. Everyone gathered around him, waiting and hearing as the typical dial tone could be heard. Static began to form in the center screen again, before a face propped up from the nowhere.

"Hello," a male voice called out.

Jason and the others standing around him looked closely at a male figure whose hair was brown, a red cap over his head. They looked at him with a confused expression. He resembled the one they knew as Tai, in some sort of way, yet…

"Why the fu-," Jason stopped himself short. "Who are you?" he restated.

The young man in the screen blinked, eyeing with a questioning look. "I'm Takuya Kanbara. Judging by what Cherubimon told me, let me guess, you're Jason Aster?"

Jason only smirked, his stance ready to know what was to come.

* * *

**Well the ending was very lame. "His stance ready to know what was to come." Pft, I'm laughing at it right now. Honestly, I'm too sleepy to come up with a better conclusion to this chapter. Maybe one day I'll go back and re-edit it. Maybe... anyway, please review. Reviews are always nice. You know, cause' they let others know to read this story. Thanks for reading. See ya'. **


	7. Chapter VII: Strange

**Okay, so a warning before anything. There are two curse words in this chapter, probably more, I can't remember. Just a heads up. Well, I hope this chapter came out well. I have a lot of school work coming up this week (Monday), so I'll be pretty busy. Yep.**

**Disclaimer: Do I have to do this for every chapter? I don't own Digimon... okay, I think everyone should have gotten that by the first chapter. Also, I don't own Mitsuo Yamaki, he's actually an original character from the third season. Look him up. **

* * *

A pair of footsteps walked through the corridors of the dark castle. The sound of rain could be heard accompanied by thunder. The footsteps increased in pace, echoing through along the marble flooring. The only light source was from the glass dome high atop, which only reflected a crease of the moon's light.

"He calls us," a dark-figure with a rather atrocious outfit commented. He placed a sword to his side, his eyes filled with worry.

"Look not afraid Piedmon. His majesty detests weakness."

The clown-figure looked at his partner as they walked through the large hallway. "Do not jest with me Astamon. I am in a foul disposition."

Astamon frowned. "It matters not what we feel. Solely what His Majesty commands, or did you forget one summer's eve?"

At this Piedmon grew stiff. He nodded. "Surely you cannot be thinking that I have forgotten." Piedmon's eyes grew grim, though luckily for him, the dark corridor hid most of his expression.

"Surely you both cannot be that afraid of His Majesty?" a sharp- female voice spoke over from behind them.

They both turned quickly, slightly shaken by her appearance.

"Lillithmon," Astamon called her name, a questioning expression on his face. "Why are you here? His Majesty did not call for you."

The purple-dressed woman smiled wickedly, her soft expression illuminated by the moon's light. "Oh, but he did," she purred, sauntering her way to the front of the small group.

Both Piedmon and Astamon looked to each other, their expressions hard and grim. "This is not good," Piedmon stated. His fingers began to fumble, a tone in his voice that suggested he wasn't ready to meet this, His Majesty.

"Remain calm," Astamon advised. "The last thing we need is to show up at the master's chamber full of fear."

Piedmon looked ready to say something, but Lillithmon interrupted him. "You both coming?" she asked, her perfect figure curving slightly. She smiled again, the glow in her eyes keeping their wicked sense.

The two mega digimon nodded reluctantly. "Remember to keep your focus and stand strong," Astamon advised again, before turning to join Lillithmon at the front.

Piedmon snickered. "Lose not faith in me Astamon," he whispered. "And never forget who it was that betrayed us on that summer day so long ago." With that, he made his way towards the others. It wasn't too long before they finally came to the chamber room that belonged to "His Majesty", located several floors below.

"We are here your Majesty," Lillithmon bowed down, eyeing the others to do the same.

"So you are," a deep voice stirred from behind the throne, causing the room to rumble lightly. A dense darkness loomed around it, hiding the owner of such a sound.

"Your Majesty, we have the report," Astamon professed. He walked forward, standing tall, head held high.

"So you do," the voice stirred once more.

Astamon winced slightly at their king's small responses. He cleared his throat before continuing. "We have several reports that indicate that the Digidestined have arrived on the fifth plane. It's as you have predicted my liege. Simon Price has played his part as well. He has led them—,"

"Do I seem to be without knowledge to you Astamon?" the voice boomed, causing the large chamber to shake once more.

Astamon grew shaken, fearful, he bowed instantly. "No, of course not my lord. I was simply reporting all that has transpired."

"My lord, if I may," Piedmon interceded. He walked forward, standing beside the bowing Astamon. "What reason, ever so gracious, have you called us?"

A deep moan sounded from behind the darkness. It sent chills to both Astamon and Piedmon. Lillithmon simply smiled. "Piedmon, ever so tactful," the voice wickedly laughed. "I will please your simple senses, nevertheless." Another hum sounded, followed by more rumbling. "I have a task for you both. It's a simple matter really. A trifle for digimon of both your caliber," he referred to Piedmon and Astamon.

At this, Piedmon froze. He knew his "Master's" requests were never really a, "simple matter". "What- what is," he cleared his throat, "what could it be my lord?"

"I want you to find these Digidestined, and destroy them. Eradicate them from the surface of the fifth realm, and bring to me their collected data."

"Sire," Astamon intercepted, standing in front of Piedmon. "If I may advise—,"

"Do you question me Astamon?" the deep voice boomed. The rumble was larger than usual.

"No, most certainly not, my lord" Astamon bowed once more with fear. "I was only simply—,"

"Do not speak further," the voice commanded. "Insolence is only rewarded with destruction. Is this the path you choose?" the voice questioned.

At this, Astamon grew grim. He nodded fervently. "Never. My wish is to only serve you forever and more, my lord."

"Then follow your words truly," the voice commanded.

"Ye- yes sire," Astamon agreed with haste.

"Good. Now, I will send you both into the fifth realm. From there, it is up to you both to survive in that realm. The darkness there shall' be your ally. Use it wisely, for without it, you both shall' perish. No digimon, nor human', both wicked and meek has ever survived there without preparing themselves."

"Does His Majesty show concern?" Lillithmon indicted.

A wicked laughter sounded from behind the darkness. "Ever so loyal aren't we Lillithmon?" the voice boomed.

She smiled, unafraid of him. "Weakness cannot be shown your Majesty. His Lordship would never approve of it."

"Know not my affairs, Lillithmon," the voice angrily sniped.

"Your Majesty," Piedmon spoke up once more, a quiver in his tone. "A question, if I may. How will you send us both to the fifth realm? Our data stream is far lager than those rookies you've sent. I fear—,"

"Do not question my powers," the voice boomed once more. "The gate of the fifth realm, though true it is almost impenetrable, is not of withstanding to me. Leave it to me, I shall' send you both, is that understood?"

"Yes your majesty," both Astamon and Piedmon replied in unison.

"Very well. Then leave me and prepare yourselves for the journey ahead."

"Yes my lord," both Astamon and Piedmon reluctantly obeyed. They bowed, before taking their leave. It wasn't until the sound of closing doors echoed throughout the large chamber, that Lillithmon turned to stare at the throne surrounded by darkness. "So you have sent the sheep to their slaughter. Interesting."

"Foolish they may be, but do not underestimate them so easily Lillithmon," the voice boomed. "They may collect some data before theirs becomes a part of the system as well."

"How soon before his Lordship is awakened?"

"That is not of your affairs," the voice reminded her. "You Seven must do your duty and protect His chamber until the Zero Network begins. That is all."

"And so is your duty to ensure his resurrection," Lillitmon countered. "Do not withhold any information from me that will mitigate His Lordship's arrival."

A groan echoed throughout the chamber. "Know your place Lillithmon," the voice boomed.

A cold wind gushed towards her. She closed her eyes, feeling the wind sweep by, though she remained undeterred. "Empty threats will do you no good," Lillithmon viciously snarled. She smiled, her eyes glowing again. She walked forward towards the throne. "Do not forget Your Majesty. His Lordship may have placed you at the head, but it was us he chose to assimilate his forces and ensure his awakening." With that, she turned to leave, though turning slightly to speak one final reminder. "She is almost done with her course across the sky. When he rises, I shall' fade away. Find me again when her light reaches down in the midst of the night."

The heavy darkness stirred, it bouncing back and forth as she left. He hummed again, anger causing the chamber to shake violently. "His Arrival will be no more than a whisper in the winds," he purred, almost wickedly laughing. Another hum followed by the chamber filling with darkness as it ascended towards the glass dome atop, crowding it, until it swallowed all light coming in, ensnaring the entire room in darkness.

* * *

**Digi-break**: Peckers and givers. I just wanted to see what I'd get from that. No response. Meh… I'm not making any sense am I? Oh well. Okay, so the plot is thickening… at least, I sure hope so *taps fingers together*. Yes, the Seven Demon Lords will come out. They have to. Their symbolic presence is useful. Also, I'm not sure whether the Dark masters should all come back, or just Piedmon. Sometimes I wonder whether all the villains from all the seasons canons (except Savers and Fusion, I haven't watched those seasons) should come out. Sometimes…

* * *

"Where to now?" October asked. She is holding a small map, created with a few papers from her pack, along with a pencil and some magic markers. The colors were used to act as guides following a legend.

"I don't know," Aaron exclaimed, clearly exasperated from walking. The ten Digidestined had been traveling for the past thirty minutes due south, per Takuya and Tai's instructions.

"You're the one with the map October, you should know," Arisa expressed. She brushed her bangs to the side, standing with one hand to the hip.

The brown-haired girl sighed, folding the map together. "I don't even know why we're doing this," she exclaimed. She looked at the folded map in her hands. She had replicated the image from her device, since the one on it was too tiny to use as a guide. "We don't even know what this place is, let alone—,"

"Don't start October," Jason snarled. He was at the head of the group, everyone else following from behind.

She sighed. "Well you can't blame me. My legs are tired, and ever since we've left that other place, we haven't gotten a moments rest. And…," she stopped herself, knowing fully well complaining wouldn't do anything.

"We have no choice," Aaron reminded them. "You heard what that guy Takuya said. Besides," he looked towards his surroundings, "we have to look for shelter. Its night already, and we haven't got a way to protect ourselves."

"We can always use these things," Victoria suggested, holding up her black and yellow digivice. "If we ever run into trouble that is."

Jason rolled his eyes. "I think our only priority is finding out who this, 'Mitsuo Yamaki' guy is."

"I still can't believe they sent someone else in here besides us," Trevor commented. "And not to mention way back before we got dragged into all this."

"But there's still something I don't get," Victoria chimed. They all turned to look at her, some in confusion. She blushed slightly, still adjusting to being the center of attention. She cleared her throat. "Why send us in here in the first place? I mean, other than the fact that they said we're a part of the fifth world and whatever, it still doesn't explain why they didn't bother telling us everything."

"You mean Ophanimon and the rest of them?" October questioned.

She nodded. "Why not tell us the mission in the beginning? Why tell us just now that Tai and the others we're not going to be with us? And what Tai said…," she trailed.

Everyone grew solemn, their faces turning grim. Some looked up at the night sky, watching as starts twinkled, remembering the conversation they had with all the Digidestined thirty minutes back:

_"Who's this?" Jason spoke through the device in his hands. Everyone else looked through their own device, seeing the same thing he was._

_ "Like I said, I'm Takuya Kanbara."_

_ "Ya, I got that," the auburn-haired young man spoke rudely. "I mean, who the heck are you? I thought I'd be talking to that other guy, Tai."_

_ Takuya made a face through the device. He sighed. "How old are you by the way?" Takuya asked, reluctant, but persistent._

_ "The crap does that have to do with any of this?" Jason barked. _

_ He sighed again. "Nothing just thought it'd be important to know. I'm sixteen."_

_ Jason looked ready to argue with Takuya, but Trevor interrupted him, placing a hand to his shoulder. Jason turned, his eyes flaring._

_ "Hey man chill," Trevor placated. "We're all in this together, remember?"_

_ Jason looked at his friend in the eyes, seeing his calm demeanor, he sighed, nodding. "You're right," he begrudgingly agreed. He faced his red device again, watching as Takuya smirked at him. He sighed again. "So, Ophanimon told us to contact you… the place you're in."_

_ "I know," Takuya acknowledged. "We've been waiting for you, for, oh how long?" He turned to a direction off the screen. "Hey, Zoe, how long have we've been here now?" he shouted._

_ Jason watched as he went off screen. He heard a bit of shouting, a thump, before everything went silent. It wasn't long before a girl with blondish hair and green eyes replaced the screen. He smiled at her, though it quickly faded. _

_ "Hey, sorry about Takuya. He can be a bit of a hothead sometimes," she chuckled. _

_ Jason heard a shout coming from off screen. _

_ "And who are you?" October asked. _

_ Jason watched as the girl turned her head slightly on the screen. He figured she must be standing at what, he thought, a pair of panels which were divided into ten sections to accommodate all of them. _

_ "I'm Zoe Orimoto. You can just call me Zoe though."_

_ "Well Zoe," Victoria was next to speak in her own device. "Not to speed things up, but," she looked at her surroundings, "it's getting pretty late and I'd be wonderful if you told us where to go," she expressed._

_ Zoe chuckled, smiling lightly. "Well, I don't know if I can help you find shelter, but Tai can tell you all where to head. Or do you want Davi—,"_

_ "Zoe, don't," the blond heard someone shout from afar. She figured someone else was coming round, since she could hear footsteps nearby. "Who's Davi?" Victoria asked with suspicion._

_ The green eyed blond tuned, blushing. "Oh, nothing really. Um… I'll be right back, I'm going to go get Tai." Zoe left before Victoria could have a chance to ask anything further. Another few minutes of waiting passed, before two figures appeared on the screen. It was Tai and Takuya._

_ "So, I see you're all safe," Tai commented. _

_ "Yeah, no thanks to you," Jason remarked. He was clutching his device firmly. "Why'd you guys run off and leave us here on our own?"_

_ Tai sighed, his face growing grim. "Jason, I'm sure by now Ophanimon explained the reasons we can't be there with you. You have to believe me, if I had a choice I'd be there instead of you." He turned his head, Jason suspected, to look at the other screens, only confirming his earlier suspicion. "All of you," he said._

_ "Enough about that," Takuya intercepted. He turned his back backwards to reveal his face. He smirked. "It's time to get to business. I trust all of you want to know where to go first?"_

_ At this, the entire gang nodded, but two figures who stood beside a pair of rocks, sitting on them. October was the first to notice, but said nothing on it._

_ "Well, hate to break it to ya," Takuya continued, grabbing the brunette's attention. "But I don't know where."_

_ "What!" Victoria shouted, clutching her device close to her face. "You have to be kidding me?"_

_ "Calm down," Tai placated. "It's true we don't know where you must go, but we do know that there is a small town nearby. You can try there first to get some rest and fill your stomachs."_

_ "There's one thing I don't understand," Liam interceded. His dark tone caught both wiser generations attention. He placed his device on a rock, though he kept at a reasonable distance. "You say you don't know anything about this place, and yet you drop hints every now and then about where to go, what to do, what to expect. It seems to me that you know more than you're letting on."_

_ "Whoa, easy there," Tai affirmed. He placed a hand to the monitor facing Liam. "Don't start getting suspicious."_

_ "But we have every reason to," Arisa reasoned. She was by Liam, her legs in a relaxed position. "You kidnap us, send us on a mission, tell us you know barely if anything about this world, and then—,"_

_ "Why come then?" Tai interrupted._

_ "Hm?" the red-head gauged. _

_ Tai's face grew firm. "If you're having second doubts about what you all got yourselves into, why come? Ophanimon warned you of the dangers ahead. Seraphimon warned you as well, so what's with all this sudden regret?"_

_ "No one ever said we had regrets coming here," Jason interceded. "Just tell us point and blank what's going on here. No more going around the bush, no more hiding things from us. Just tell us everything we need to know."_

_ Tai sighed. _

_ "Tai," Amora spoke up for the first time since their arrival into the fifth plane. Her voice not only caught the attention of both leaders, but her own group as well. She was sitting by Lucas, both on a rock wedged deep into the ground. _

_ Tai looked back at the girl. He noticed her eyes the most, as they shined with the silver of the moonlight. _

_ "Why withhold the foreknowledge of where you would all go once entering this plain? You seem to be at a foreground here, and it's best that you tell us everything you know. It not only serves us, who came here on our own accord as you so mentioned, but all of you as well," she referred to those with him. _

_ Her group looked at her, their faces amazed by her sheer blunt force._

_ Tai sighed again. He could feel her icy stare as it bore deep into his body. Strangely, he could not see the man beside her. He figured he wasn't looking into his screen. He placed a hand to his temple, before nodding. "Okay," he agreed, reluctantly. "I'll start by telling you the reason we kept you all in the dark about where we would go."_

_ At this Amora smiled, though clearly uninterested to hear the rest. She simply nodded to Jason, before closing her device, switching it off. The others watched with slight amazement, when she turned to Lucas beside her, tugging him. _

_ They figured she must have said something to him, because soon they were both off to another part of the clearing. It wasn't until they faded off with the darkness that Takuya spoke up, interrupting the silence._

_ "It seems to me that they're both a pack of lone wolfs, huh?" he remarked._

_ "They're good people," Serena defended them. "Just a bit… different."_

_ Tai nodded. "Well, so long as they stay with the group, all is fine with me. But um," he cleared his throat. "Back to the topic at hand."_

_ "A summary please," Victoria pleaded. "The night's coming fast, and we still have to find shelter."_

_ Tai nodded. "Well, in short, we didn't tell you all about us coming here, because we feared you may not come with us."_

_ "You need us that much?" October questioned, perhaps with a bit of hubris._

_ He nodded again. "The Sovereign, a group of five powerful digimon, discovered the keys to unlocking the energy within the fifth realm. Those were you all."_

_ "So how did we end up in the Digital World then?" Arisa asked. _

_ "We kidnapped you all of course," Takuya stated nonchalantly. He had a smile on his face. "But you know that already."_

_ "But you don't know why and how," Tai interceded. "To put it simply, we scouted you all out, analyzing your lives… well, we analyzed a large scale of people, before we came to the conclusion of you ten present."_

_ "So, basically you've been stalking us?' Liam commented. "Well, that's good news to ease the mind," he snarled sarcastically. _

_ Tai sighed again. They really were making things difficult, though he quickly thought back to his adventures. He had his share of moments, though they came later than earlier. He shook his head. It didn't mater when. _

_ "In a way, yes," Takuya chimed in. "We had to. It was the only way to find the best candidates. Those with strong souls, righteous morale, and all. But really, it didn't take too long. We just used your aura to find you. That is, what your energy looks like once transferred to the digital world. It seemed all of yours checked out."_

_ "Okay, so you kept from us all the details for fear we'd turn tail and run, kept the fact that you pretty much stalked us, and kidnapped us. Anything else we should know?" Trevor questioned more for curiosity then vindictiveness._

_ "Well, there is one more thing," Takuya stated with reluctance. He could see all their faces growing grim, despite being through a screen. He smiled. "Don't worry, it's not shocking or anything. More like kept needed help," he stated. "You see, as Tai mentioned earlier, there is one place we managed to get a feed on. We figured it's because it's close to the portal leading to Mazzaroth's Row. Anyway, it's a town not too far from where you're all at. Head south and cross the bog. From there you will come across it. That's all we can give you."_

_ "Well that's great," October chimed in. They couldn't tell whether she was being sarcastic or not. She didn't give them the chance to figure it out. "So about that mission Ophanimon told us to retrieve from you?"_

_ At this, Takuya spoke first. "I can help you with that. Like I said though, we don't know much about it, but we need you all to find a man by the name of Mitsuo Yamaki. He's a data researcher, and more importantly, a director of a company by the name of Hypnos."_

_ "Wait, so there's another human in this world other than us?" Jason asked, surprised._

_ Takuya nodded. "He's been in there for almost a year now. He's been researching the strange anomaly of the world."_

_ Okay, so what do we do once we meet him?" Trevor asked._

_ "And where d we meet him?" Victoria added._

_ "That I don't know," Takuya answered. "Let me explain," he quickly succeeded, knowing their questionable expressions. "Yamaki's data line went missing a few months ago. We couldn't connect back with him, but his data file say's he alive, so we figure he's just lost. His last connection was a place not to far from where you are all that, since he liked to stay close to the gate as possible. Well, besides all that, if you find him, we need you all to find what intel he discovered."_

_ "What do you mean?" Victoria questioned._

_ "He means that Yamaki, just seconds before losing his connection with our feed, was ready to tell us of something urgent. His connection was fuzzy to begin with, but he seemed to be in a hurry at the time. That's your mission. Find Mitsuo Yamakai, and collect all the information you need from him. Oh, and bring him back home safely. His team is already worried about him."_

_ "Team?" Jason asked. _

_ "For another time," Tai urged. "As for now, do as Takuya said. Head south, and from there, as long as you followed the road, you should be able to come to a nearby town. From there we can only serve as guides for you all, nothing more. We have told you everything we know about the fifth plane now, and you all know as much as we at this current moment."_

_ "So that's it, huh?" Trevor queried. _

_ "Second thoughts?" Tai asked._

_ He nodded. "No, just surprised how fast everything's moving. I mean, what? I'm only fifteen, yet here I am, ready to go on some adventure like in a kid's storybook or something. Seems all surreal," he stated. _

_ "You'll get used to it," Takuya coaxed. "I was twelve when I started mine. Eventually you'll become stronger because of it. But all that aside, if there's anything else you'd all like to know, say it now, before we break this connection. It's past midnight already, so it's best you all be on your way. Who knows what may be out there."_

_ The others nodded._

_ "Very well then," Tai began, ready to conclude the conversation. "I'll upload the map onto your systems; you can use it as a guide to finding the town. As for now, we'll wait for your progress. Just dial the number given, and you'll reach us. Also, don't forget about the other two."_

_ "So wait, you're all stuck in that one place?" Arisa asked._

_ Tai smiled. "We'll talk about that some other time. I have one thing to say, before I disconnect this feed." He waited for them to nod, before continuing. "There will be times where you will face hard decisions, maybe even be put in extreme circumstances. But don't forget, you have powers now, and how you use them will all depend on the person you are."_

_ "By powers, you mean?" Arisa continued with her usual, causal questions._

_ Tai nodded. "You'll find that out on your own soon." With that, he nodded, before disconnecting, leaving them all in an almost state of confusion._

The flashback ended, as they continued to walk south. "It's so strange," October commented, looking up at the sky. She placed her hands behind her back. "I wonder what powers we'll get?"

"I bet they're awesome," Aaron roared, almost shouting.

"I doubt it," Jason opposed.

Aaron frowned. 'Nah, man. Don't be such a downer." He patted his friend on the shoulder. "Don't be such a prick all the time, Jason. You'll get people worked up," he advised.

Jason frowned, though he remained quiet. He knew Aaron was always giving him advice. Why should this time be any different?

"I think it would have been better if we got some of those things, Digimon," Arisa smiled, almost hugging herself. "The one that girl Mimi had was so cute. It had a flower on its head, and—,"

"Don't be such a girl," Liam commented, moving closer to her.

She frowned at that. "I get to be whatever I want to be," she retorted.

He frowned.

She closed her eyes sighing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. It's just…,' she paused, trying to think of something to say.

"Nah, it's okay," Liam smiled sheepishly. "No harm done."

She looked at him softly. "You sure?"

He nodded.

She smiled at him, though she noticed he slowed his pace. She didn't mind. Lately, they've been needing space from each other. Ever since they decided to be more than just friends… and then the break-up. She shook her head to escape her thoughts. She saw Liam was closer to Victoria now. She shrugged, walking forward towards the front of the group.

"So, hey October, how far long until we reach the town?"

October turned, her long braided hair caressing her face. "Well, if I'm reading this damn map right, it shouldn't be too far from us."

The red-head nodded, slowing her pace, looking down at the ground now.

"You okay?" a man beside her asked. She looked up, smiling softly. "Aaron, right?"

He nodded. "And you're Arisa?"

She nodded in return.

He smiled. "So, what's got you down?"

She nodded again. "Nothing, just some complications." She turned to look behind her.

He saw the person she was looking at. It was Liam. He frowned slightly. "You guys together?" he asked after several seconds passed.

She turned to him, wide-eyed. "No… nothing like that," she frowned.

He sighed. "Well, if you need any help, some advice or um…,"

"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked, suddenly.

He grew stiff. "Uh… that depends. Do you think you are?" he asked nervously.

She smiled. "It's okay, you don't have to answer that." She looked down again, her red-hair covering part of her face.

He frowned again. He wasn't making any progress in cheering her up. Instead he turned to look elsewhere, though continuing to walk beside her.

Minutes went by, most of the group remaining silent as they walked towards the southern end of the swamp. They avoided as much of the condensed area as possible, not wanting to dirty their clothes, packs and shoes. It wasn't too long before they finally reached an area that seemed to resemble a once inhabited place.

"I don't understand," October whined, holding the map open again, turning it at all angles. "It says it should have been here."

The group had finally come to an area full of buildings, only, most seemed to be in rubble. Other parts of buildings were half-shaven, the top parts destroyed. The darkness of the night didn't help, since it covered most of the apparent damage done. Their only light sources were the moon and their devices.

"You sure you're reading it right?" Jason asked, stepping near her. He pulled the map from her hands, inching in his device to see it clearly.

"What's it say?" Trevor asked, standing beside him, overlooking the map from the side.

Jason remained silent, analyzing the map carefully. "Kind of weird crap is this," he remarked, angrily scrolling the map. He looked up, lighting the device straight ahead. "It should have been here."

"I told you," October remarked.

He smirked at her, before motioning everyone to follow. They did as he commanded. Another few minutes of walking, once he was sure they were in the thick of the place, before he commanded everyone to use their devices to light up the place more clearly. They did as they were told. Ten devices were shone onto the direction ahead.

"Damn, what the hell happened here?' Aaron asked.

They were in town, only…

"It's all destroyed," Victoria spoke up. She had her mouth agape.

"But I don't understand?" Aaron chimed. "This is the town right?"

A few murmurs began to stir within the small group. Serena, who had been at the back, walked to the left, coming to an area filled with puddles of water. She leaned down, shining her device over the rim of what looked like a pipe, small droplets of water coming out. She frowned, standing, heading in further. She could see pieces of cloth, broken furniture, tools and large heaps of rubble.

"So this was a town," a male voice spoke up.

Normally anyone would have been startled, but Serena remained unfazed, staring down at the pile of ripped bedding. She was standing in someone's former home, though its walls were broken. She frowned. "I wonder if anyone who lived here made it out alive."

The young man walked up, stopping beside her. "The digimon?"

She nodded. "It doesn't matter who. They're still innocent creatures. If they're anything like those three angels, then," she paused, picking up what looked to be a small stuffed animal. She eyed it carefully, noticing an eye missing from it. "They're sentient creatures with feelings. That's all that counts."

He frowned again. "Serena…"

She turned. It was Trevor. "Let's go back. The last thing we need is for the others to think we're missing." With that, she moved past him, not giving him a chance to reply.

He watched as she faded, the light of her device pulling away. He frowned, staring back at the pile of broken furniture. His eyes grew distant at the sight. "Man, what happened?" he sighed. He gave the broken home one last look, before turning to run and catch up with the rest of the group.

"Why won't this fuckin' thing work?" Jason shouted, slamming down his device on a large rock. Amazingly the device was much sturdier than they all thought.

Trevor, who had reached his group finally, walked towards Aaron. "What's going on?"

The dusty-brown haired young man turned, eyeing his friend. "Jason's lost it, that's what. I tried calming him down, but he just won't listen to me. He's in too deep this time."

"What happened," Trevor asked.

"He tried connecting to the Kingdom of Naught server," Victoria interceded. They both turned. She paused next to them. "Apparently, the device won't connect. He wanted to ask Tai or whoever was there for some advice on what to do next or…,' she turned to look at her surroundings. The entire town, though most concealed by the darkness, was apparent in its state. Half the buildings had been wiped, and the other half, barley standing. "…anything really," she grimaced.

They all stared on, eyes half distant, expressions sad. Where did everything go? Their state was interrupted by the sound of thunder. They all looked up, including Jason who had finally stopped slamming his device.

"It's going to rain," October pointed out the obvious. They all turned to her, nodding.

"We have to find shelter quickly," Arisa stated. She fastened her backpack unto her back, standing again, after having tried resting on a nearby rock. "The last thing we need is to get sick."

They all nodded in acknowledgment.

"But where will we go?" Victoria asked, clearly aware of where they were at.

"I know," Liam stated, coming from out of nowhere. They all turned, some with confused expressions. He smiled sheepishly. "I know it may seem surprising, but I managed to find a small home still intact."

"Where?" Arisa asked, clearly interested now. She quickly walked towards him, her face in exasperation.

He pointed behind, where he had come from. "Over there. It's not that far from here. Just down this slope." He began to walk, Arisa beside him. The others followed suite.

They all followed Liam, until they came to a small house, just like he described. A few piles of rubble were thrown about, perhaps a bit of the wall shattered, but it was just as he said, the house was still intact.

"This is marvelous,' October roared, clasping her hands together. She began running towards the door, opening it like a little girl ready to come home after having been away for so long. The others quickly followed.

It wasn't until they were all inside, the door closed, that they began to look around.

"It's so weird," Victoria began. She pulled her pack closer to her chest, cradling it. "Everything's still in place. Even…," she grew wide-eyed. "Oh my go—," she screamed, unable to finish her sentence.

They all ran towards her, afraid that something may have happened. "What, what is it?" Jason and Liam were the first to get to her. Everyone else followed quickly.

She remained frozen, though pointing, her hand shaking. The sound of thunder could be heard from the outside trickles of rain pouring down softly on the rooftop of the place. A flash of thunder passed, revealing what exactly it was she pointing at.

"No," Aaron was the first to gasp.

"Oh, shit," Jason remarked. They all stood silent, eyes wide but a few, at the sight before them.

Serena was the first to walk forward, placing a hand down, checking for a pulse. She sighed. She raised her device, looking clearly at the grim faces before her. She frowned, standing back up. "He's dead."

Some gasped, another thunder flashed. Everyone caught a clearer sight of what they were seeing. Red stains were splattered across the wooden flooring, a few limbs broken here and there. The person in question had been severely damaged, perhaps enough to be slightly mutilated. But what surprised them the most was not his state, nor' the atrocious crime scene the, but rather one fact alone…

"And he's a human," Arisa gasped, partially burying her head in Liam's chest, taking small glances every now and then.

Jason grimaced, walking towards the dead man. He shined his device on him, kneeling down. He could see streaks of blond. He sighed. "He's not just any human. I'm betting he's that guy Tai told us to find. The one that went missing a few months back. This man must be Mitsuo Yamaki."

Another lightning flashed, this one closer, flashing by the nearby window. The man's face, which had once been in perfect condition, now seemed drained of all life, his eyes closed. Though most of his figure remained hidden, one thing was clear. He had been murdered.

* * *

**Dramatic? No? Oh, well... yeah... Did you all enjoy this chapter? If not... well, thanks for reading nonetheless. Every view helps a lot! Surprisingly, this story has quite some views (up in the thousands) despite hardly any reviews. Eh, what can be done, right? Nevertheless, thank you! **


	8. Chapter VIII: Prison Break

**My gosh is this chapter long. Took me a while, but I managed to finish it. I hope it's a good chapter. Anyway, I'm really thickening the plotline now. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I do not. Seriously... nope. It's sad, I know.**

* * *

"No," he whispered, his eyes-widening at the sight before him. He was on his knees, his hands over Yamaki's body. He could hear the rain pelting heavily outside, thunder droning deeply. A storm was coming.

"Jason," he heard someone shout his name. He didn't move, keeping his hands frozen, the light from his device shining over the dead man lying in front of him. He felt something tug at him, pulling him slightly. He looked forward, catching the eyes of a young woman with light blue eyes. It was Serena. He figured she must have moved closer when she turned him, as she was now examining Yamaki's body more closely.

"Jason," he heard the same voice call his name again. He turned, this time looking at October. She was standing by him, offering a hand.

"We can't stay here," she stated, cautioning towards the scene.

Jason felt numb, slightly trying to focus his attention on her. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Well we can't leave like this," Liam protested. He was in front of Jason, blocking his view now. "We have to report this."

"No, she's right," Serena interceded. They both turned to look at her. She merely shifted her gaze back to Yamaki's lifeless body. Another lightning flashed, revealing his entire body once more. "The wounds on his body are still fresh. Whoever did this to him is not too far from here. He… it may come back."

"Wait, how do you know how long he's been dead?" Arisa questioned with suspicion.

"She didn't say she knew how long he's been dead," Victoria intercepted, eyeing the ruby-haired girl down. "She said his wounds are still fresh, big difference."

Arisa narrowed her eyes at the blond. "Yeah, well who asked you miss 'know-it-all'? Last I checked, I didn't." She crossed her arms over her chest, making a stance.

Victoria opened her mouth to make a comeback, but October got in-between them, before she could. "You guys, this isn't the time to be fighting." She turned back to Serena. "Can you indentify what caused his wounds?"

Serena eyed her, nodding. She knelt down beside Yamaki again. "It's hard to make out with just these devices, but it feels like slash marks of some kind." She began to stroke over the lines where they were most apparent, shaping them into her memory. "If you're wondering how I know this, my father is an oncologist, but formerly he was a coroner." She continued to caress over the lines, avoiding the open wounds that led to Yamaki's insides. She shifted the light slightly for better focus. The others kept attentive. "He taught me a lot on the human anatomy, and most importantly, some of his skills." With that, she finished, standing up again.

"Did you manage to find what did this to him?" Aaron asked, pointing towards Yamaki.

She nodded. "Unfortunately, the wounds on his body are too deep to make out, but I was able to gain a slight description of the attack from his back, and his right palm."

"His right palm?" October asked.

She turned, nodding again. "Other than the slash I mentioned earlier, there also seems to be a hole carved deep within his palm."

The group gasped, some shocked by the new fact.

"Wait, what do you mean 'carved'?" October persisted.

"I mean that whoever attacked Yamaki did it with the intention of creating that hole inside of him." Before anyone could ask what she meant by that, she quickly followed up. 'You see," she began, walking over to where Yamaki's only attached right arm lay. She knelt down, motioning for the others to come over. "Look at this?" she gestured, holding his hand up. Some gasped, eyeing a rather large hole taking almost three-fourths of his entire palm. "See the small fractures in the bone?" Only Liam, Jason, Trevor and October nodded. Victoria, Arisa and Aaron had backed away due to the intense amount of blood present, and Amora and Lucas kept at a distance from the start. "These are too neatly carved to have been done 'accidently', at least, not without proper precision."

"So what you're saying then…?" Trevor openly asked.

Serena sighed, slightly furrowing her brows towards a soft expression. "Either Yamaki's attacker is very precise on how it drills a hole, or whatever did this," she pointed to his palm, "did it after having killed him."

The gang grew exasperated, their expressions hard and saddened by the situation. Here they were, barley into the fifth plane, and already tragedy struck fast. They could hear the lightning, as the storm rolled in, the wind picking up in speed. The rain continued to pour down heavily, its presence adding a grim atmosphere to an already "dark' situation.

* * *

**Digi-break**: Yep, that same blond haired guy with black glasses in the third season… is dead. Didn't I say it was going to be very dark-themed (or did I?). Anyways, Yamaki is dead, and now the group has an investigation on their hands. Not too mention that they can't seem to contact Tai and the others. Yep, things are shaping up.

* * *

"So what do we do now?" Trevor asked. He had his hands behind his head, lying on the floor. The group, after having examined Yamaki, moved to the next room to avoid both the incoming storm and Yamaki's lifeless state.

"I don't know, but all I want right now, is to get out of here," Arisa whined, holding her hands close to her nose. Yamaki's smell had begun to circulate the entire small house.

"We'll have to make a plan," Aaron suggested. He was sitting on a stool, one hand to his knee. "Something that will give us some advantage at this point." He cupped his chin to think.

The others, which consisted of Victoria, Liam and Serena, began to think as well, the room growing silent.

In a room adjacent to the one they were in, sat Jason near a window trying to connect to Tai's location, and October, who watched from the side.

"Why won't this damn thing work?" he shouted, slamming his device once more, in succession to his outside dilemma. He could hear the lightning as it slammed down, causing the small house to shake slightly. After several more attempts, and having grown frustrated, he threw his device across the room, sighing, while looking out the window. He could see the rain pelting heavily.

"Jason," October exasperated. She moved in closer to him, caressing him softly on his shoulder. "I—,"

"Don't," he snarled, his back turned from her. "I know what you're going to say, and I don't think we should."

Her face hardened. "But we have no other choice. Our only lead is gone, and we have no way of contacting the others. Let's face it, we're lost."

"Well what do you expect, October?" he shouted, startling her. He looked her in the eyes, sighing, tilting his head down now. "Why'd you come when you knew this wasn't going to be easy?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying why come? Ophanimon warned us of the dangers ahead, and yet you still came. Now you're suggesting we go back?"

He looked up, his expression filled with anger and something else she couldn't make out.

"Well news flash October, we can't go back okay? You got that? We have no way of going back, this Yamaki guy is dead and we have no way of contacting the others. What did you think would happen when we first came here? For everything to be fine? Easy?!"

Hurt by his words, she began to breathe harder, though she tried to calm down. "Jason, this isn't the time to be fighting. I was just suggesting that we—,"

"I said NO!" he shouted, causing the others to come running in.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" Trevor asked, being the first to enter the room. The others followed suite.

October, clearly exasperated by the situation turned eyeing Trevor in the eyes before looking down. "Ask him?" was all she muttered, before leaving the room swiftly. The girls followed her, leaving behind Aaron, Trevor and Liam to deal with Jason.

Aaron and Trevor being closer to him in relations were the first to walk forward, eyeing their friend, who was "busily" looking out the small window.

"Hey, guy," Aaron mocked, sitting beside him. His expression grew hard, his voice lower than usual. "You ready to talk, or you think you're too good for us?"

Jason ignored him, continuing to look out the window.

Trevor approached him next, sitting on the opposite side. He tapped him on the knee, to no avail. He sighed. "Jason, you have to stop being this way. This person… it's just like years before, when—,"

"It's nothing like before," Jason snarled.

"No?" Trevor laughed sarcastically. "Then why does it feel that way? Cause' I'd sure like to know."

Jason turned, his eyes narrowed. "Look, you don't come here and tell me how to act. You got that? I live my life how I want, and you live yours." With that he turned back to the window.

Trevor, clearly frustrated, got up, refusing to argue.

"Where you going?' Aaron asked, watching as Trevor made his way out of the room, passing by Liam who was standing by the doorway.

"Away from here," he snarled, stopping himself midway, sighing. "If I stay, I'll just end up arguing with him. When he's like this, I don't know… I just can't deal with him." With that, he made his way out, leaving behind only Aaron and Liam with Jason.

Aaron sighed, eyeing his friend once more. "Are you like this because of what happened recently?"

"Why does everyone keep bugging me about that?" Jason shouted. "No, this Yamaki guy being deceased has nothing to do with me. He's dead, end of story."

"I wasn't talking about that," Aaron countered. He waited for him to ask him what he meant, but after several seconds with no response, he continued. "Jason, I think I know why you came to the Digital World so, eagerly," he clicked his tongue. "Heck, I know you know what I'm referring to."

At this, Jason exhaled heavily. "Just drop it Aaron okay. Now's not the time. I'm just not up to it."

"Well you're going to have to talk about it some time," Aaron assured. He stood, walking away from him, stopping a few feet away. "Or else it's just going to end up like before, whether you like it or not." Having said that he made his way out of the room, but not before catching a glimpse of Liam's face particularly his expression. It was neither angry nor' sad, nor' happy. "In fact," he thought, once coming out of the room, "it was nothing, but contempt".

Liam, who had been standing by the doorway, arms crossed, motioned towards Jason, sitting roughly on the dusty couch opposite from him. He stared at the auburn-haired young man opposite of him though he kept his lips shut.

The sound of lightning and rain continued to pour down, its presence adding a distancing effect to the situation.

After several minutes of silence, Jason, who had grown impatient with Liam sitting near him turned, eyes aflame. "What?" he growled.

Liam remained silent, still staring down at Jason. He didn't bother hiding that he was even looking at him.

"You got something to say then say it?" Jason continued.

Still Liam remained silent. He crossed his arms, though keeping his gaze steady.

Jason sighed, eyeing Liam in the eyes. "You want something from me? What?"

Liam shrugged, his sharp eyes narrowing slightly, his green eyes almost creating snake-like slits. "You tell me."

At this Jason opened his mouth, but no words came out. He eyed the green-eyed teen, confusion stricken on his face.

Liam stood, sighing, while running a hand through his hair. He stared out the window, watching as the water from the rain hit the ground. "Isn't it funny, Jason?" his hazy voice uttered his name.

Jason, not liking the way he said it, made a rigid expression watching as Liam slowly walked towards the window.

"How were put in desperate situations, expected to act on them with the most purest actions, and still remain strong despite all the adverse trauma we face?"

The auburn-haired teen's face made another confused expression. "The hell you talking about?"

Liam frowned, his back turned from him, continuing to eye the front of the window. He shook his head, sighing once more. "You don't remember do you?"

"Remember what?" he asked, still confused.

Liam turned, eyeing the amber-eyed young man. "It doesn't matter." He walked forward, stopping near an end table placed at the side of a nearby door. He rested a hand on it, noting the heavy dust on the small furniture piece. He picked it up, grinding the dust from his fingers all the while speaking. "I guess people's lives are never meant to be truly separated," he chuckled. He walked towards the door, opening it, stopping short from entering the room. "At least, not forever." With that, he closed the door behind him, leaving a confused Jason to ponder over what he said.

"The hell you talking about?" Jason growled at the empty air. Another lightning flashed, causing him to catch sight of his device on the floor. He stood, picking it up, eyeing it closely afterwards. "Dammit' man," he groaned, slightly slamming the device onto his forehead. He wanted to throw the device again, stopping short from fulfilling his desire, when a muffling sound came from it.

Growing wide-eyed, he pulled the device closer to his face, noting the fuzzy screen that had appeared earlier back when they first entered the realm. It was only a glimpse, but he managed to catch sight of a face, though he couldn't make out who it was.

"T… Ja… ut…," he could hear small sounds trying to break through the device. He pressed harder on it, as if it would augment the signal. "Ou… f… ere…," the muffling continued. He tapped the device hard, smacking it from the side. "C'mon you piece of shit, work," he growled at the device. He tried clicking the buttons, but found it was no use. "Jas… ge… out… of… ere…," the muffling grew louder. He began to recognize the voice, though still he felt unsure. He could hear whirring coming from the outside, causing him to look up. A bright light shone from outside the window, though due to the heavy rain, he wasn't able to make out what it was.

Again the muffling sounded, causing him to look back down at his device. The screen remained fuzzy, but it didn't matter, as the next words caught his entire attention: "Jason, get the others and get out of there," the voice urged. He recognized it. It belonged to, "Izzy," he stated aloud, followed by a large shriek coming from afar. He turned, only to jump aside quickly as something blasted through the wall, causing the upper roofing to cave in.

All that happened afterwards seemed to resemble a movie, as everything began to feel topsy-turvy. He tried standing, only to find his legs begin to weaken, causing him to collapse. The blast must have done more damage on him then he thought, he figured. Time seemed to slow down, and though he heard more shouting, he wasn't able to make out who it belonged to.

There, another blast came through, sending him flying towards the same room Liam entered through a few minutes before.

From there it all began to go black, as his vision began to blur. All he could remember was struggling to get up, watching as something large and shadowy walked towards him, though there was something else he heard before blacking out; the sound of a scream calling out his name. He gazed at the figure before him, his eyes slowly closing, before finally blacking out.

* * *

**Digi-break**: The next person up is Serena. Her name is Serena Leon, and she will be the water-bearer… literally. No, just kidding. But she'll take over the Water element. Serena, hmm… she's kind of hard to pin down, since she'll encompass most of the emotional qualities. She delves deep into the arts, especially performing arts, and she's what a person would call, a "protégé". Also, due to her father being a former coroner, and her mother a psychiatric specialist, and having studied them on off times and their constant rigid importance on growing up to be like them, she has also grown an aptitude for both mental and physical health. An affinity she'll share closely with someone else in the group. Serena is very emotional by nature, and she likes to place herself in others shoes. She holds the belief that all life is sacred, and that everyone deserves a second chance. Though a more distant personality at first, if given a chance, she'll open up, allowing others to be a part of her heavily-guarded circle. She's sensitive, but as well, very intuitive. On the negative, she can be very flighty, and is a pacifist, which will tend to prove to be both a positive and a negative on the group's travels. She also tends to run from problems and overwhelms easily much like October and Arisa.

Her artistic talents include: the violin, the piano, the cello, the guitar, acting, dancing (pirouette, ballet, classy and tango), intermediate singing and painting/drawing.

Her eyes are aquamarine, and her hair light-brown.

* * *

"Aaron, hey Aaron wake up," a voice called his name. He groaned, trying to open his eyes as someone shook him. "Aaron," the same voice whispered. It sounded desperate, maybe scared. He groaned again, pulling himself up, though he felt his body ache. His muscles felt tight, and his bones weak. He rubbed his eyes, blinking several times to remove the excess from his eyelids.

"Aaron," the voice stifled.

He opened his eyes wide, noticing a ruby-haired girl sitting beside him, in what looked to be a small cell room. "Arisa?" he called out.

She poked her head under the visible light within the dark room. "Oh, thank goodness you're awake," she yelled.

He noticed an accent coming through, though he didn't say anything on it. He placed a palm to his forehead. "Yeah, but my whole body feels like crap." He shifted his gaze towards their surroundings, blinking in confusion. "Where are we?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, but I think we're imprisoned."

"What makes you say that?" She pointed for him, him turning, noting the iron bars in front of the small cell-room. "Oh," he suspired.

She stood up. "Yeah, it seems whoever attacked us must've carried us to wherever this place is."

"You think they know?" he asked.

She turned, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "About who we are? Why we came I mean."

She shrugged back. "I don't know. If they knew who we were, and assuming they're bad… guys, then they would have probably killed us off by now."

He looked down, eyeing the soles of his feet. "That or they're keeping us for another reason."

She gasped suddenly, sitting by him again on her knees, giving him a playful smirk.

He smiled sheepishly, his eyebrows furrowing. "What?" he chuckled lightly.

She continued to smile. "Pretend to be laughing," she whispered from the corner of her mouth.

He looked at her in confusion, but upon hearing a whistling sound, he understood immediately. "Oh, dammit' Arisa that's funny," he shouted, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

She followed up with: "Really, I didn't think so. I thought maybe it was too strange. You know, cause' I was—,"

"Hey, what's going in there?" a voice shouted from afar.

Arisa's eyes glowed, smiling once more, though this one more genuine. "Come on," she ordered, grabbing Aaron's arm before he could react. They both stood quickly, the taller of them both looking confused. "This way, hurry, before he gets here," she commanded, pulling him to the corner of the small cell.

"What are we doing?' he muttered to her, after they backed up against the corner nearest to the metal bars.

She placed a hand to his mouth, before he could react. "Just trust me," she explained quickly. They both remained motionless as the tapping of the footsteps continued to grow closer.

Aaron could feel his heartbeat increase with every step, him wondering what exactly Arisa was planning. He tried to keep his breath under control to avoid making noise, and worse, looking afraid.

"Come on,' he heard her mutter under her breath, noticing her stance. It took until whatever was coming to stand in front of the cell, before he finally understood what was going on. But before he could react, the next thing happened so fast, he didn't even have time to blink.

"Hiya," Arisa shrieked, startling the creature. She grabbed it quickly, her arms flailing through the bars, punching pressure points within the creature's body. It wasn't too long before the creature was on the floor, its body paralyzed.

Aaron blinked, his mouth agape, watching as Arisa searched the creature diligently.

"There you are," she shouted lightly. She stood up, holding in her hands, a pair of keys. She turned smiling at him, one hand to her hip. "Got it," she gloated with victory.

His mouth continued to remain open, unable to think of anything to say.

She walked up to him, closing his mouth, gaining his attention now. "Don't look so surprised," she commented. She walked towards the front of the cell, playing with the keys in the lock, until she found the right one. The cell door opened. She smiled at that.

"Wait," he uttered, before she got out of the cell. She turned. "How'd you do that?"

She looked where he was pointing. The creature's body remained still, though it began to twitch slightly. She frowned. "Later," she assured. "We have to go now, before he regains movement again."

Understanding what she meant, when the creature began to stir, he nodded, quickly following her as they both made their way out of the small cell-room.

They both ran down the corridor, taking glances at every cell they passed in case one of their friends was in them. The dim lights from the ceiling were their only guide as they quickly made their way out of the narrow strip of space. It wasn't until they came up too a large metal door, that they paused to catch their breath.

"Hold on," she uttered, holding up the keys again. She searched the door, finding several locks placed within the front. She smirked. "Wow, they really wanted to keep us locked up," she chided, on account of the several heavy locks that barricaded them inside. She sighed, beginning to shuffle through the keys, opening one lock after the other.

"Hey, at least none of the others were here," he voiced. "Which is both a good thing and a bad one."

She turned, facing him, her hand on the key to the last lock. "Yeah, well," she turned the key, causing the last of the lock's to open. "At least we made it out," she contorted the shaft bars, opening the door.

Once the doors opened, they both ran through, not even bothering to look back as the large heavy-set metal door closed behind them.

"Where to now?" he uttered, both of them looking around. They were at a crossroads now, after having run down a giant corridor.

She nodded. "I don't know."

The sound of a siren rained through the empty halls, sending chills down both their spines. "Shit, they found us," Aaron cursed.

"We have to go now," she shouted, grabbing his arm. She wanted to run, but his bulk kept her from moving him. She turned her eyes in confusion. "Come on," she shouted over the siren.

He nodded. "Wait, I can feel something."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

He lifted a finger as if to say, "One second". He knelt down, placing a palm to the ground, closing his eyes. He breathed through his nose, the seconds passing by quickly.

"Aaron, we have to go now," she shouted again. "This isn't the time for whatever it is you're doing." She looked ready to leave, but stayed, watching as he remained motionless. The sound of heavy footsteps grew near. She looked up in panic. "Aaron!" she shouted again.

He opened his eyes, standing up again his expression both confident and affirmed. "I know where to go," he shouted. He grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the left. "This way," he shouted.

She felt as he pulled her, her arm feeling like it was about to tear off. She wanted to tell him to slow down a bit, but the sound of incoming footsteps only gauged her former decision. He kept his hand locked to her wrist as he dragged her along the large chambers. Although they passed from corridor to corridor in what she though to be an endless maze, Aaron seemed to know where he was going.

They stopped at another crossroads, the sound of footsteps nearing once more. Again Aaron knelt down, placing his palm on the surface of the ground beneath them.

"Again?" Arisa chided. She crossed her arms, waiting for him to finish.

He remained silent, relaxing his pose, despite the loud siren and the impending footsteps nearing. He breathed through his nose, opening his eyes once more. He turned to the left, eyeing the long narrow strip, his eyes growing distant.

"Okay, which way now?" Arisa screamed interrupting his thoughts. She didn't want to fully trust Aaron's instincts or whatever he had, but he seemed to know where he was going, and trust was all she had at the moment.

He blinked, eyeing her. "Oh, uh, this way," he pointed towards the area directly in front of them.

She nodded, taking his hand. "Then let's go."

Again they began to run down the huge corridor. Much to their surprise, no one seemed to be coming in from the front. As if to jinx it, the sound of heavy armor clattered from a corner in front of them, while the sound of footsteps increased from the rear. They both stopped running, turning both ways on the two-way narrow hall, eyeing both directions.

"Damn, what now?" Arisa growled. She was looking around, only to find Aaron on the floor again. She sighed. "Why do you keep doing that?"

He smiled, standing up again. "Instincts I guess." With that, he grabbed her arm, pulling her to the side.

"What are you doing?" she howled.

"Trust me," he assured. He began to search the wall, lightly tapping the sides, until, "Found it," he roared. He pressed the stone, causing a giant slab of stone to open, revealing a hidden room within the large hallway.

Arisa, surprised, remained silent, following him as they both entered. She feared the door would remain open, but much to her assurance, it closed and in the time as well.

They both remained quiet as the sound of footsteps drew near. Several muffles and shouts, from what they figured to be the two teams meeting up was all that transpired, before all sounds faded away at a distance.

"What now?" Arisa asked, slouching down. The room was too dark for them see each other, considering there was no lightning.

He shrugged, though it didn't matter since she could not see. "I don't know, but we'll wait until we know for sure that the coast is clear."

She raised an eyebrow. "If we can get out of this room."

He chuckled.

"What?"

He shook his head. "We'll get out all right."

"And how are we going to do that? I don't suppose there's a switch on this side." She stood. "And even if there was, we can't see anything."

"You can't," he remarked.

She turned to face where his voice was coming from. "What do you mean?"

He chuckled again. "I can't explain it, but for some reason I can feel the earth's vibrations."

"What?" she laughed.

"I'm serious," he uttered. "That's how I was able to tell where we were going. I could feel the earth beneath us, almost like I could see ahead without my eyes. That's why I used my palm. I figured that direct contact with the earth will help me 'see' better. And it did."

She grimaced. "Okay, suppose what you're saying is true. Then how do you figure you can see?"

"I can't. Like I said, I feel the earth beneath me. I really can't explain it, but the images go into my head. It sort of freaked me out."

"Freaked you out? You mean this isn't the first time you got this?" she asked.

He nodded, though it as useless. "Back when we first found our devices, that's when I first started having these… images. I didn't want to say anything cause' it even freaked me out, but… I don't know. I guess I just figured when we were running that I might as well give it a try. To see whether I could tell where to go without even looking, and I did," he stated the last part almost like a kid discovering he was going to a theme park.

She chuckled this time. "Well Mr. I can see everything," she mocked, "can you tell whether we can get out of here?"

He snorted. "Yeah, but like I said, let's wait until everything is clear."

"Meaning?"

He laughed. "Boy, you ask a lot of questions don't." He sighed, standing.

She could feel his presence near. She heard a slapping sound. She figured he must be doing what he was earlier, "feeling" the vibrations.

"I can't tell what it is, but I can feel heaviness crushing the earth beneath outside this wall. Someone must be standing directly near."

"You think they know we're in here?" she asked.

"I doubt it. They would have come in here, since whatever this place is belongs to them. They should know every secret room."

She sighed, backing up, but tripped over something on the ground.

Aaron sensing it grabbed her before she could fall head on, back first. "Whoa, there, careful," he remarked. He quickly placed her on the ground, him sitting beside her. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded, but soon realized he still can't see her movements. "Yeah," she yelped, trying to recover from her dizziness. "Just a little lightheaded right now." She pushed, but felt her hand slap something. She had slapped his upper body. Blushing, she pulled her hand away. "Sorry," she remarked.

He shrugged. "It's okay. Didn't even feel anything."

Again she blushed.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask," he quickly changed the subject. "What did you do back there? In the prison cell?"

"Oh," she yelped. She sighed, sitting on her rear, placing her knees to her chest. "Well I just blocked his pressure points to render him motionless."

"Come again?"

She sighed again. "Well, why you were asleep, I watched as the guard made rounds coming back and forth. I timed the minutes between each interval, using counting as my guide to tell when he was going to come back, approximately," she remarked.

"So that whole laughing thing?"

"It was just bait to lure him near the cell. I couldn't very well knock him—,"

"Him?" he queried.

She shrugged. "It, does it really matter?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know. Just saying."

If he could see, he would have known she was making a face. She sighed. "Well anyway, I didn't want to knock _it_ out, without you first being awake."

"Oh, so you care about me?" he teased.

She blushed at that, but chuckled aloud. "Hyea, I don't even know you that much. I mean, I've seen you around the school campus hanging out with Jason, but that's as much as I can remember about you. No offense."

He smirked. "None taken." They remained silent for several seconds. He looked around, but quickly growing bored of the darkness, he turned his attention back to where he felt her body lay. "So, how'd you learn that?"

"Learn what?"

"That pressure point thing?"

She sighed. He found her doing that a lot though kept the thought to himself.

"When I was little my parents took me out to a nice restaurant. We were having a good time, enjoying everything. It was just my dad, mom and me. My little brother wasn't born at the time. Well anyway, long story short. When we were coming out, my dad had forgotten to pay the cashier, so he quickly went back inside to give the man at the front the check, leaving my mother and me behind."

"So, something happened?" he asked.

She nodded, even though she knew he could not see, at least, she thought. "While we were waiting by the car, cause' my dad was taking longer than usual, a man came to us threatening for us to give him some money. Naturally, my mother refused, telling me to wait inside the car. Well, one thing led to another after that, as you can imagine. My father came out only to find his wife, my mother beaten, me lying on the floor beside her, and our car stolen."

Aaron sighed. "Is that why you learned to fight?"

"No, it's what my father wanted. After that event, he became different. More… strict. He wasn't always. He use to be so gentle, kind and forgiving. But now…," she paused.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me everything," Aaron assured.

She smiled. "Well, after several years of training in the martial arts field as well some boxing and self-protection lessons, I've leaned a few tricks of the body. That is, where to strike to weaken an opponent and what points cause' the body to shut down."

"It's funny that it worked on a non-human, and…" he paused. "I'm sorry what happened to your family."

She shrugged. "Don't be. It was a lot of years ago. If anything, I'm glad it did. That way it taught our family to be more alert, keen and focused."

"Still," he sighed.

Wanting to change the subject, she brought up the pressure point topic again. "I was surprised too you know. That I managed to paralyze the creature. Like you, I tried my luck, figuring that the worst thing that can happen if I fail is that we'd both be killed. Although to me, that's a much better fate than rotting in the cell forever."

He chuckled. "I guess we're both lucky then?"

She nodded, smiling. "I want to thank you."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "For what?"

She shook her head. "For listening. I've never told anyone that story before, not even my closest friends. They just figured I loved martial arts and that was it."

He patted what he thought to be her shoulder. "Don't mention it."

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of the alarm stopping. The rustling of movements drew near, but just like the others, they too quickly faded.

Arisa was the first to stand. "Well, it seems they finally stopped looking for us."

Aaron stood as well, placing his hand on the wall. After several moments, he then turned to look at her. "I don't feel the heaviness anymore. They must all be searching outside now."

"Which means—,"

"Which means we must be close to the outside," he finished for her.

She nodded, despite the darkness. "We should get going then. We need to look fro the others."

"And our devices," he reminder her. "Without them, we have no way of contacting the others, and ultimately, getting out of this place. With that, he began to feel the wall, searching like before, until he managed to press on another stone, causing the stone-door to open, revealing the long, narrow and partially lit hallway. "You ready?" he asked, looking down at Arisa.

She nodded. "I've never been so excited to see the outside."

He smiled at that, before grabbing her arm. "Okay, let's go then."

They ran through the long corridors, turning in many directions per Aaron's guide, until they finally managed to hit a rather large metallic door, much like the one before, back in the cell-area.

"You still got those keys?" he asked, staring at the mass before them.

She nodded, reaching in and pulling out the keys attached to her waist. She shifted through the keys, unlocking every lock like the one before it. Finally she managed to undo the last of them, smiling at Aaron. "Ready for some freedom?"

He smirked. "Let's get out of here, then I'll tell you."

With that, they both pressed on the door, gasping as the cold air breeze hit them. They closed the door behind them quickly, crossing a long bridge, before coming into a set of bushes and trees. Because of Aaron's unique ability, they were able to dodge any passing guards as they made their way out.

They turned back only once they had reached a good enough distance, looking down from a higher elevation at the surprisingly large dome before them.

"What is that?" Arisa gasped. The large dome made of pure metal, consisted of a multitude of chains and barricades that blocked every other path, except the direct front entrance. Much to her dismay, she was surprised at how easily they got out.

"I think that may be a prison," Aaron uttered, his tone a pitch higher. They were both astounded at the scene before them. Luckily for them, they were not able to see the area behind the large metal dome, where all the true _things_ happened.

Aaron came closer to her, nudging her from the shoulder. She turned to look at him. "Come on," he turned her. "We have to find the others."

She nodded, walking by his side as they both stepped away from the large prison and into the forest before them. They looked up, watching as the sun began to rise, bringing in a sense of new beginning and the coming of something knew.

Digi-break: Nothing here. I just needed the break between scenes.

Heavy metal-clad footsteps echoed through the long hallway. A man stood before a large desk, his back turned against it, facing a series of maps and points attached to the wall. He had his arms crossed behind his back, his rather large armor attached to his body in a malevolent manner.

"Daemon sir, we have reports that both Digidestined have escaped."

The man turned, eyeing the black-bat like digimon before him. "Good,' he hissed. "It won't be long now before the show begins." With that, a smoke of darkness began to fill the room, enshrouding everything in its path. The sound of a menacing laugh echoed through the discreet halls. The sounds of a madman ready to play his favorite game.

* * *

**And here comes the second Demon Lord. I have to really have to get a fight scene in. I'll be sure to have the next chapter include one. Nevertheless, thank you everyone for reading. **


	9. Chapter IX: Haven of Desolation

**Okay, so I should warn, the first part of this story was written shortly after the last chapter in this story. The part after that was written several weeks ago, and the final part was written recently. So, there you have it. Okay, enough of my babble. This here is being published on September 8, 2013. Okay, so, um...on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: Okay, so I don't own Digimon. Big deal, it's not like it means anything. Nope, I'm telling you. Not a single meaning. **

* * *

"Get moving, this ain't no tally-wagging, mmm, sight-seeing show I got running here," shouted a red bat-like creature from behind in a heavy "western accent" as Trevor liked to think of it. Both he and Serena, after having been caught back at town, had been taken to who-knows where in the middle of the desert, being dragged off by chains like someone about to be taken to their final moments. At least, he hoped they weren't, as the red digimon continued to shout orders, pointing his pitchfork at some poor digimon helplessly chained together. He wanted to say something, but knew that doing so would not only put Serena and him in danger, but as well, whoever he was trying to verbally protect.

Instead, he scoffed it off, continuing to drag his own weight, barefoot no less, through the large aisle of chain-interwoven line of mixed captures, slaves, foreigners and anybody else, he figured that whoever was in charge, did not like.

"You okay?" he turned to ask the light-haired young woman beside him. She too was fastened at the wrists, her gaze steady, yet distant. She looked up, slightly smiling, nodding.

"Yeah just thirsty."

He sighed, looking at his surroundings. He could see other "digimon" chained as he was, some trying to pick-lock their locks, ultimately failing. One was even brandished from the head, before being kicked back in line. He frowned, turning back to Serena. "I don't suppose they'll let us have some water?" he asked in a questioning manner.

She chuckled softly. "Not that it matters at this point," she pointed towards his feet.

He blushed slightly at that, looking at her frame. She was still wearing the same school uniform, blouse and everything, and not to mention, shoes! He snickered inwardly. At Boogeymon's request, Serena had been able to keep her belongings on herself since she was one of the only few females within the large interwoven chain of living creatures. He on the other hand, looking down, had no shoes, and instead of his normal clothes, he was given a large rag-dress one size to small that extended down barley touching his knees.

"It's so sad," Serena remarked after they began to trudge forward again.

He looked at her, eyeing where she was looking. A pair of digimon were being whiplashed by a strange flower creature. A desert-bloom he figured. He shifted his eyes. It didn't matter where he looked it was all the same. He knew what she meant. "There's not much we can do," he uttered sadly.

She didn't frown, he noticed. She just kept that same stare since they began this, he thought, inhumane travel to wherever was anywhere. That same expression as if filled both with ill-contempt and dejection. As to where both were being directed, one could only guess, but still have a good idea to whom.

Slowly they trudged on, walking in a manner much like everyone else. They were all dehydrated, hungry, tired and some even wary or afraid of what may happen to them. Not to mention the scorching heat of the desert, including the blazing afternoon sun. He sighed again, brushing the sweat from his brow, only serving to remind him of the flaming heat that entered his pits and swept down to his groin. How he was glad he at least had his undergarments.

"Trevor," Serena spoke softly to keep Boogeymon, who was currently busy threatening a pair of white-fuzz creatures who looked to "snowy" for the desert to keep moving, from hearing.

He turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

"Do you think this is happening all across the fifth plane?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Honestly, Serena, we're in no position to start thinking about things like that." At that, he noticed her frown while turning back to the other chained digimon. He winced from the eyes, fully acknowledging what he just said. "Look," he began, "when we get out of here, that's if, then we can save anyone we want. Starting with this place. Until then, its best we focus on finding the right moment to make a get-away. That sound good?"

She nodded slightly, barely acknowledging what he was saying, rather keeping her focus on the long line behind her as they walked. He sighed again, turning his attention towards the front, noting as a large building began to come into view. He squinted his eyes, despite his good vision, to see through the dense heat waves. He wondered whether he was imagining the large stone tower-shaped building as it was slowly coming into full-view.

He tapped at Serena's shoulder. She turned. "You see that?" he asked, more for reaffirmation that he wasn't becoming delusional.

She nodded. "I guess this desert has an oasis after all."

He eyed her, stunned by her remark, but happy nonetheless that rest was only a distance away, even if it was in some crummy, he figured, prison. Although, he thought, "You don't think they're going to execute us?" he asked aloud, trying to mask the fear in his voice.

She shrugged. "We're probably one of the only humans here. If anything, they'll want to question us before killing us."

He contemplated the thought, purposely deterring from the idea of Serena being a secret sleuth or something. There were a lot of possibilities as to who these digimon were, what they wanted and what exactly was awaiting them at the tower. At most, if they had a chance, he made note to scan the tower in case they ever did get the chance to escape. "Then we'll just have to see," he remarked, smiling confidently as they made their way towards the desert-tower.

* * *

**Digi-break**: This is simply to reveal the next part. Bokomon and Neemon make an appearance! Yay! Also, I haven't updated this for two months. I was going to scratch the story progression above, but I decided to leave it as is. Enjoy.

* * *

"Hurry Neemon, we can't keep the celestial digimon waiting!" shouted a running Bokomon as he pulled his fellow friend Neemon from the waist of his red pants. The yellow digimon, mouth agape, struggled to keep up with him.

"Bokomon, I think my pants are falling off, or maybe I'm falling from them," was all Neemon could shout back to his friend while holding on to his pants.

Bokomon, ignoring his friend's comment, continued running, one hand dragging Neemon while the other was busily occupied holding a specific green book with odd symbols on the front cover. They dashed through the many corridors, heavily panting as they made their way to the front of the great castle, where the three celestial digimon resided.

In that same room sat three digimon, one on each of the only three royal thrones, each centered towards a large crystal which occupied the center of the great chamber.

Ophanimon, who was quietly sipping from an olive tea cup turned to look at Seraphimon, eyeing him with a bemused look. "When do you suppose Bokomon and Neemon will arrive?" she asked.

Seraphimon, placing the newspaper he was reading down, looked at her, before eyeing the silver clock ahead of him. "Papa-Mom and Neemon seem to be a few minutes late, but it shouldn't surprise us at this point. I'm quite baffled that it still catches you from time to time."

Ophanimon smiled, taking another quick sip from her tea before placing the cup down. "Seraphimo—,"

"Isn't it about time you stopped calling Bokomon your Papa-mom?" Cherubimon intercepted with a bemused tone.

Seraphimon turned to look at the great pink bunny who sat at the left end of the large chamber. "I don't suppose such a trivial quirk could bother the great and powerful Cherubimon?" he quipped.

Cherubimon blushed, mouth open, but unable to speak as the doors to the large chamber opened rather suddenly.

"We're here!" Neemon shouted from the top of his lungs.

Bokomon rushed in from behind, pushing the poor yellow digimon aside, while running towards Seraphimon, arms wide open. "My baby, Papa-mom has returned," he shouted, jumping towards the blue angel.

Seraphimon, use to such greetings from his dear "Papa-mom" caught the little white digimon in his hands. "It's so great to see you too, Papa-mom," he greeted in a great male voice that only added to the embarrassment the scene displayed.

Both Cherubimon and Ophanimon nodded in disapproval, before walking over to the odd pair. Seraphimon, seeing this, placed Bokomon down, understanding the importance of the current situation.

"Okay, so what have you dragged your old dear Papa and Neemon all the way out here for?" Bokomon questioned.

The three celestial digimon made grim faces, only adding serving to add more tension to Bokomon's nerves.

"From the look on your faces, I'm assuming it's not something good?" the white digimon posed.

They simply nodded.

"Well then, I don't suppose this has anything to do with, dare I say it…,"

The three celestial nodded, only assuring his presumptions.

"Oh my," Bokomon gasped. "This is not good, not good at all."

"What's not good?" Neemon questioned, appearing behind Bokomon.

"Oh, you," the white digimon yelped, grabbing onto Neemon's pants, lashing him with it. "This is a very serious matter, you yellow-headed… oh, I suddenly don't have the energy to continue," he whined. He turned to look at Seraphimon. "Will they need me?"

Seraphimon nodded. "Unfortunately Bokomon, they'll need you more than you can imagine."

Bokomon shivered. Seraphimon only ever called him by his name when things were imperatively serious. "I suppose this wasn't a family reunion call, now was it?" he rhetorically asked.

The blue angled nodded in reluctance.

"I see," the white digimon cupped his chin, hesitantly awaiting all the incoming details of what recent events have transpired since his last visit to Guardian City.

* * *

**Digi-break**: Well, it's been weeks since I updated the top. Back to continuing this story.

* * *

"Please, stop, I'll tell you anything. Anything, just please, don't hurt them," shouted a small gray bunny looking digimon.

Both Trevor and Serna, after having arrived in the "Oasis" of the desert, stood behind a large line waiting to see the warden of the place, who was busily lashing at a _family _of Gazimon, from what they heard another digimon shout.

"Daddy, please, help us!" screamed a tiny digimon from where another Gazimon stood, protecting the little one.

"Oh, please," the Gazimon standing before the warden begged, knees on floor, hands clasped together. "I beg you Zanbamon, please, spare my family."

The golden-armored, centaur-looking digimon laughed manically, waving his blade evenly, eyeing with contempt at the digimon in front of him who was heavily shaken. "Gazimon of Song Village, it says here you have failed to pay three courses work, and so have failed utterly to save your family." Zanbamon laid the scroll of paper down to eye the newcomer. "And for your negligence, you shall feel the loss of dear ones, just as His Master has felt the loss of your blithe habits." He turned to eye the digimon beside him, nodding. "Lampmon, you know what to do."

The green digimon smiled wickedly, crossing his arms together in menacing manner.

"Wait, what's happening?" Trevor gasped, eyeing as the Djinn-digimon hovered over the small family of Gazimon. He could hear the laughter of the perpetrator, the screams of the victims, and knowing what will happen next his heart skip a beat, and judging from Serena's tight grip on his hand, she was shaken as well. They were about to witness a horrible tragedy indeed.

"For having forsaken to serve the Master, and more so, allowed the lands to grow hard and unfertile, it is with laden sorrow that we reap payment to feed the ever growing hunger of His Master's desires." Zanbamon turned to eye Lampmon, nodding for authorization of execution. "And so, it is with a heavy heart, that we accept payment in—,"

Lampmon, whose large clouds of dust encumbered the family of Gazimon, while the father watched helplessly from the side, as two digimon kept him in place, began to laugh hysterically. Ready to attack, and like a storybook, the next attack came precisely the heavy words that followed.

"Data," the words flowed out of Zanbamon's mouth, causing the father Gizamon to begin shouting, crying out loud with hysteretic fear.

"No…," were all the words that came out of Trevor's mouth.

"Golden Smog!" shouted Lampmon, encompassing the Gizamon family in a vapor of golden fog. All that could be heard in the horrific scene were the screams of the children behind the golden smog, a large cry of despair, before everything became silent.

Several seconds passed, before the golden mist subsided, revealing three sets of tiny orbs of light, before they were scanned by the hands of Zanbamon, who sealed the data quickly in a rather large vase bottle that resembled a bottle of perfume.

"NO!" Gizamon screamed after having finally come to terms with what recently happened. He fell down, shaking utter ably, his gaze unfocused.

"Ugh, how disgusting. Take him out of my sight," ordered Zanbamon, before yelling out next.

Both Trevor and Serena watched with horror, as a pair of monkeys took the sobbing Gizamon to the back of the tower, hearing his cries, before the sound of a slammed door muffled his screaming.

"Next!" screamed Zanbamon again.

"Did he just—,"

"How cruel," Serena finished for her friend.

"I said next!" Zanbamon screamed once more at a pair of horned digimon.

Trevor, growing angry at Zanbamon's cruelty, narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth, while watching as the golden-armored digimon stated the penalties of the next digimon.

Serena, feeling his hands, looked up, eyeing as Trevor tried his best to remain silent. She wondered whether she should say anything to placate his anger, but upon seeing the injustice being brought on the next group, she willed herself to keep quiet. The next thing came rather suddenly.

"Hey, you piece of shit!" Trevor screamed at the top of his lungs.

Zanbamon, who was busy laughing, while having a hoof on top of a horned digimon looked up, eyes narrowing after realizing who it was. "Ah, so I see the human has grown a spine of sorts."

Trevor watched as Zanbamon began to make his way to him. Slowly he stepped back, hand still cradling Serena's, though he could feel his body begin to sweat. He couldn't tell whether it was due to fear or simple perspiration form the heat, but either way it didn't matter, as Zanbamon stood inches from him now.

"Am I here to assume that you think now harm will come to you despite his master's orders?"

Trevor remained still, eyes steady at Zanbamon, his stance rigid, despite the chains binding him to the others.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Zanbamon continued.

Trevor blinked in confusion.

The centaur tapped his hoofs in impatience, calling over Lampmon to his side.

"Are you deaf?" the Djinn shouted, standing well above Trevor.

Zanbamon, realizing the face on Trevor, began to laugh menacingly. "Oh my, it seems the stupid boy has no clue what's going on." He clutched at his ribs to contain his laughter. "Oh, this is my day today. Humans are such feeble creatures." As soon as his laughing started, it ended. "You are a fool to speak out. The digimon here are to meet their fate, and there is nothing you can do about it! Nonetheless, Leomon!" he shouted.

Serena watched as a large lion walked over to the two digimon, bowing.

"You called me?"

Zanbamon nodded. "Take these two to my office. I'd like to have some fun with them after scanning a few more of these,' he alluded to the other chained digimon.

The giant lion nodded, and as Serena noticed, more in reluctance if anything.

"Come with me," Leomon commanded, after having unlocked both Serena's and Trevor's chains from the rest of the line.

Trevor, still slightly shocked, followed Leomon without question. His attention back at the scene, he narrowed his eyes, gazing as Zanbamon and Lampmon grinned at him once more before returning to their duties.

"In here," Leomon growled, leading both humans into the warden's office. He quickly made sure to lock their chains to a nearby cell, before taking his leave, leaving both Trevor and Serena behind.

Both sat in silence, hearing every now and then the scream of another digimon, more crying, more laughing, more sounds of horror, tragedy, more…, "Dammit," Trevor screamed, slamming a fist into the ground. He caught sight of the chains that bound to the room, wincing even more at the pathetic state they were in. "It's too much. All this …sadness."

Serena gazed at him, sighing, before placing her knees close to her chest. She began to look around, eyeing the room which was filled with carvings of sorts, medals, golden trophies, and items that looked to be for a western-styled room. She sighed, gazing down at the floor in contemplation. "It's so unfair," Trevor screamed, breaking her concentration. She looked up, her eyes growing softer. "Trevor," she placed a hand on top of his.

He looked at her in surprise, blushing slightly. "Sorry, I guess I get overworked when I see these kinds of things."

She nodded. 'It's okay. To be honest, I'd probably be more surprised if you didn't."

"Still," he sighed. "There isn't much we can do. Know what else?" he chuckled. He didn't wait for her to ask. "We just got here and already we're in danger. Not to mention we're seeing the horrors of the Fifth World first hand. It all seems so…,"

"Surreal?" she alluded to his earlier statement.

He turned, nodding. "If only we could tap into that "power" Tai was talking about. If only," he looked at his palm, wondering if such a thing did exist.

Serena turned to eye the room once more.

"AH," Trevor screamed.

She turned to him quickly. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head, pulling his hand down quickly. It's nothing, just some blood," he remarked to cut on his palm.

She grew wide eyed. "How'd that happen?"

He shook his again. "It doesn't matter." He tilted his hand to prevent more blood from coming out, while tearing at his raggedy shirt. "Here, try to tie this around my hand. You think you can do that?"

She shook her head. After grabbing the piece of cloth from his mouth, she began to slowly wrap the cloth around his hand, being careful that it wouldn't remain loose after she knotted the ends. A few minutes passed before she finished. "There."

He smiled at her. "Thanks."

She nodded. "No problem."

Just then, the door to the room opened wide, revealing both Zanbamon and Lampmon as they both made their way into the room.

"Well, well, it seems we have a little time for ourselves with these humans before His Master returns," Zanbamon laughed.

The last thing that could be seen was the shining of golden dust, before the room to the warden's office closed, hiding the last of two hysterical laughs that would send chills down any sane creature's spine.

* * *

**Mhm, you know the drill. Wait do you? Well if you don't, then um...um...Okay, so if you want subscribe, review, favorite, etc.**


End file.
